Roles of VEGF-Flt-1 signaling in malignant behaviors of oral squamous cell carcinoma.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a highly specific signaling protein for vascular endothelial cells that plays a critical role in tumor growth and invasion through angiogenesis, and may contribute to cell migration and activation of pre-osteoclasts, osteoclasts and some tumor cells.We aimed to clarify the detailed roles of VEGF-Flt-1 signaling in bone invasion of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells.Forty-two (42) of 54 cases with gingival SCC (77.8%) strongly expressed VEGF, and had a significantly increased number of Flt-1+ osteoclasts (p