ObjectiveTo investigate the expression of tyrosine kinases B (TrKB) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), their correlation as well as their relationship to the clinical characteristics in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).MethodsThe expression levels of TrKB and VEGF were determined immunohistochemically in 55 NPC specimens and 30 nasopharyngitis specimens, and their expression difference was compared. The NPC patients were classified according to their age, gender, T stage, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis. The relationships between their expressions with the clinicopathological parameters were analyzed by bivariate pearson correlation test.Results① Both VEGF and TrKB were expressed in cytoplasm. In 55 specimens of NPC, positive expression of VEGF and TrKB was observed in 47 and 45 with the positive rate of 81.8% and 85.4%, respectively, However, in 30 nasopharyngitis specimens, the numbers of TrKB and VEGF positive expression were 3 and 5 with the positive rate of 10.0% and 16.7%,respectively. The positive expression rates of VEGF and TrKB in NPC were significantly higher than those in the nasopharyngeal tissues (both P<0.05). A correlation analysis indicated a significant correlation between expression of TrKB and VEGF in NPC (R=0.716, P<0.01). ②The VEGF expression was significantly correlated with T stage (P=0.009), clinic stage (P=0.002), and lymph node metastasis (P=0.001) of NPC, but insignificantly with patients’ age and gender, and distant metastasis (all P>0.05). Meanwhile, the TrKB expression was significantly correlated with T stage (P=0.00), clinic stage (P=0.00), and lymph node metastasis (P=0.006), but insignificantly with patients’ age and gender, and distant metastasis (all P>0.05).ConclusionsThe expressions of VEGF and TrKB are increased in NPC, which indicates that both of them may be involved in the occurrence and development of this tumor. The expression of TrKB is probably related to angiogenesis of NPC.