Analysis of relationship between VEGF-C and lyphatic vessel density in breast cancer

Objective To investigate the relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor C(VEGF-C) and lymphatic vessel density(LVD) in patients with breast cancer.Methods The breast tissue specimens of 40 cases of breast cancer,5 cases of breast fibroadenoma and 5 cases of normal breast were collected from 2006 to 2009 in our hospital,and the enzyme-histochemical double staining method was used to detect LVD of these specimens.Meanwhile immunohistochemical SP method was adopted to detect the expression of VEGF-C protein in the 50 specimens.Results The positive rates of VEGF-C and LVD expression in breast cancer tissue were significantly higher than those in control group(P0.05).The positive rates of VEGF-C and LVD expression in lymphatic metastasis positive group were significantly higher than those in lymphatic metastasis negative group(P0.05).The expression of VEGF-C was positively correlated with that of LVD(P0.05).Conclusion The expression levels of VEGF-C and LVD in breast cancer tissue are increased,which can promote lymphatic metastasis in patients with breast cancer.