Letter to the Editor
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 14, 2022; 28(30): 4221-4226
Published online Aug 14, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i30.4221
Prognostic role of expression of angiogenesis markers in hepatocellular carcinoma: A bioinformatics analysis
Yan-Dong Miao, Xiao-Long Tang, Jiang-Tao Wang, Deng-Hai Mi
Yan-Dong Miao, Xiao-Long Tang, Jiang-Tao Wang, Deng-Hai Mi, The First Clinical Medical College, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China
Yan-Dong Miao, Jiang-Tao Wang, Yantai Affiliated Hospital of Binzhou Medical University, The Second Clinical Medical College of Binzhou Medical University, Yantai 264000, Shandong Province, China
Deng-Hai Mi, Dean’s Office, Gansu Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China
Author contributions: Mi DH and Miao YD designed the research; Miao YD wrote this comment; Miao YD and Tang XL performed data analysis and prepared the tables and figures; Wang JT downloaded the data; Mi DH reviewed the manuscript; Miao YD and Tang XL contributed equally to this work; and all authors approved the final manuscript.
Supported by the Special Plan for Condition Construction of Gansu Provincial Scientific Research Institutes, No. 20JR10RA432.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Deng-Hai Mi, MD, Chief Doctor, Dean, Dean’s Office, Gansu Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 418 Guazhou Road, Qilihe District, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu Province, China. mi.dh@outlook.com
Received: July 30, 2021
Peer-review started: July 30, 2021
First decision: August 19, 2021
Revised: August 22, 2021
Accepted: July 18, 2022
Article in press: July 18, 2022
Published online: August 14, 2022
Processing time: 376 Days and 7.1 Hours
Abstract

The expression of angiopoietin (ANGPT) 1, ANGPT2, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) A, VEGFB, VEGFC, VEGFD, and placental growth factor (PGF) is significantly higher in tumor tissues than in normal tissues in both unpaired and paired hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) samples. ANGPT2, VEGFB, VEGFC, and PGF are primarily involved in regulating the activation of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition pathway; ANGPT1 is primarily involved in regulating the activation of the RAS/mitogen-activated protein kinase and receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) pathways; VEGFA is engaged in regulating the RTK activation pathway; and VEGFD is mainly involved in regulating the activation of the tuberous sclerosis protein/mammalian target of rapamycin pathway. There is a significant difference in overall survival between HCC patients with high and low expression of ANGPT2, PGF, VEGFA, and VEGFD. Disease free survival (DFS) is significantly shorter in HCC patients with high ANGPT2, PGF, and VEGFA expression than in those with low ANGPT2, PGF, and VEGFA expression.

Keywords: Hepatocellular carcinoma; Angiogenesis; Marker; Bioinformatics analysis; Pathway

Core Tip: We found that the expression of angiogenesis markers was significantly higher in tumor tissues than in normal tissues in both unpaired and paired hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) samples. These angiogenesis markers are mainly involved in regulating the activation of the EMT pathway, the RAS/mitogen-activated protein kinase and receptor tyrosine kinase pathways, and the tuberous sclerosis protein/mammalian target of rapamycin pathway. In addition, there was a significant difference in overall survival between HCC patients with high and low expression of angiopoietin-2 (ANGPT2), placental growth factor (PGF), vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA), and VEGFD. Disease free survival was significantly shorter in HCC patients with high ANGPT2, PGF, and VEGFA expression than in those with low ANGPT2, PGF, and VEGFA expression.