Expression of VEGF-C in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

【Objective】To investigate the expression of VEGF-C in non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC) and its relationship with tumor angiogenesis and lymph node metastasis.【Methods】Forty tumour specimens resected from patients with NSCLC and 10 normal lung and bronchial mucosa tissues were investigated.The expression of VEGF-C was detected by an immunohistochemical method.Meanwhile the expressions of CD34,p53 and p16 in tumor tissues were also detected.【Results】 The positive rate of VEGF-C in NSCLC was 77.8% which was significantly higher than that in normal lung tissues(20%,P0.01).The mean microvessel density(MVD) was significantly higher in patients with high levels of VEGF-C expression than that in those with low levels of VEGF-C expression(P0.01).VEGF-C expression was significantly higher in patients with lymph node metastasis than in those without lymph node metastasis(P0.01),and higher in patients with smoking than in those without smoking(P0.05),and higher in patients with p53-positive than in those with p53-negative(P0.01).There was no correlation between VEGF-C expression and p16 expression(P0.05).【Conclusion】 There is very close correlation between VEGF-C expression and angiogenesis,lymph node metastasis and p53 expression in NSCLC.Smoking maybe causes the overexpression of VEGF-C in NSCLC.