Objective  To explore the clinical significance of estrogen receptor α( ERα) , estrogen receptor β( ERβ) in non-small cell lung cancer( NSCLC) .Methods  EnVision method was used to detect the expressions of ERα, ERβ, vascular endothelial growth factor( VEGF) , and microvessel density( MVD) in 54 NSCLC patients, 10 patients with lung benign lesions, and 10 normal controls. The interrelation between ERα, ERβ, VEGF, and MVD was analyzed. Results  No obvious expressions of ERα and ERβwere observed in the normal lung tissues and lung benign lesions. The positive expression rates of ERα, ERβ, and VEGF in NSCLC were 20. 4% ( 11/54) , 64. 8% ( 35/54) , and 64. 8% ( 35/54) , respectively. There were no significant differences between ERαin regard to clinical parameters of NSCLC. But the expression of ERβ
was dependent on pathological classification and differentiation of NSCLC. The expression of ERβ was significantly higher in adenocarcinoma than in squamous cell carcinoma( P  lt; 0. 05) . The expression rate of ERβin well differentiated group was significantly higher than that in low, moderately differentiated group
( P  lt;0. 05) . There were significant differences between VEGF in regard to lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. The expression of ERαinterrelated with VEGF and MVD with r value of 0. 4 and 0. 685 respectively ( P  lt;0. 05) . There was little correlation between ERβ and VEGF, MVD( P  gt; 0. 05) . Conclusion  The
expression of ERβ correlates with pathological classification and differentiation of NSCLC, suggesting its significance in evaluating the pathological classification and malignant degree of NSCLC. The expression of ERαcorrelates with VEGF and MVD, suggesting that ERαpossibly promote micro-angiogenesis of NSCLC by VEGF pathway.

Citation： YAN Hao,XU Ying. Correlation and Clinical Significance of Estrogen Receptors and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Chinese Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2010, 9(3): 287-290. doi: Copy