Expression of angiogenin, TGF-β, VEGF, APEX and TNF-α in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to verify that the expressions of angiogenin, transforming growth factor-beta(TGF-β), vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF), human apurinic/apyrimidinic endonuclease(APEX) and tumor necrosis factoralpha(TNF-α) were associated with the tumorigenesis of the oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC). Materials and Methods: Fifty-one samples of OSCC and fifteen normal oral mucosae were obtained to analyze the expression levels of above five factors. mRNA expressions were quantified by the quantitative competitive PCR(QC-PCR) method. After 2% agarose gel electrophoresis stained with ethidium bromide, the concentration of mRNA was calculated by a digital image analysis system. The expression levels of angiogenin, TGF-β, VEGF, APEX and TNF-αwere compared by unpaired Student’s ttests between cancer and normal tissues. We analyzed statistically to find the cut-off values that would be useful as diagnostic markers, and the linear regression analysis between every two factors of these five factors by SAS system. Results: All of these five factors (angiogenin: P<0.0037, TGF-β: P<0.0001, VEGF: P<0.0102, APEX: P<0.0023, TNF-α: P<0.0074) were significantly correlated with OSCC. In the analysis to find the cut-off values for the diagnosis, we could not find any value that had a reasonable sensitivity and specificity. In the linear regression analysis, there were correlations between angiogenin and TNF-α, TGF-βand VEGF, TGF-βand APEX, TGF-βand TNF-α, VEGF and APEX, VEGF and TNF-α, APEX and TNF-α. Conclusion: Our results suggest that not only angiogenin, TGF-β, VEGF, APEX and TNF-αare significantly associated with the tumorigenesis, but also the close relationship between these factors might enhance the tumorigenesis of OSCC. We can not find clinical availability for diagnosis.