BACKGROUND Angiogenesis has important effects on tumor growth and metastasis. It is regulated by a variety of angiogenic and angiostatic factors. METHODS To evaluate the effects of tumor cell‐derived angiogenic factors, we performed an immunohistochemic study to evaluate the intratumoral expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin‐8 (IL‐8) in relation to intratumoral microvessel density (IMD) in tumors from 104 nonsmall cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC)patients. RESULTS Fifty‐four carcinomas were VEGF‐positive, 47 carcinomas were IL‐8‐positive, and 53 carcinomas were hypervascular tumors. There was no significant correlation between the percentages of positive VEGF‐staining and positive IL‐8‐staining in NSCLCs (ρ = 0.174, P = 0.080). The IMD of VEGF‐positive carcinomas was significantly greater than that of VEGF‐negative carcinomas (P = 0.023). In addition, the IMD of IL‐8‐positive carcinomas was significantly greater than that of IL‐8‐negative carcinomas (P =0.013). The overall survival rate of patients with hypervascular tumors was significantly lower than that of patients with hypovascular tumors (41.0% versus 67.0%, P = 0.004). Cox proportional‐hazards regression model also demonstrated that angiogenesis was one of the significant factors in predicting the survival of NSCLC patients (relative risk = 1.944, P = 0.041). CONCLUSIONS Intratumoral expression of VEGF and IL‐8 was associated with angiogenesis in NSCLCs. Tumor angiogenesis significantly affected the prognosis of NSCLC patients. Cancer 2001;92:2628–38. © 2001 American Cancer Society.

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