In order to study the expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) and its significance,the expression of VEGF mRNA and COX-2 mRNA in 62 cases of LSCC and 54 adjacent noncancerous laryngeal tissues and 9 normal human laryngeal mucous tissues was detected by using techniques of semi-quantitative RT-PCR. It was found that the expression level of VEGF and COX-2 mRNA was significantly increased in LSCC as compared with that in the normal human laryngeal mucous tissues (both P＜0.01), and the expression level of VEGF and COX-2 mRNA were significantly increased in stage Ⅲ + Ⅳ tissues of LSCC as compared with the stage Ⅰ + Ⅱ tissues of LSCC (P ＜0. 01). There was a high positive correlation between VEGF and COX-2 expression in LSCC (r=0. 756,P＜0.01). These data raise the possibility that VEGF and COX-2 may play key roles in the growth, invasion and metastasis of LSCC.