Correlation of VEGF-C expression with lymph node metastasis and prognosis in pancreatic cancer

Objective To investigate the relationship of vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) expression with lymph node metastasis and prognosis in pancreatic cancer. Methods Fifty-two specimens of the pancreatic cancer patients diagnosed pathologically were divided into lymph node metastatic group (n=36) and nonmetastatic group (n=16). The expression of VEGF-C was detected by immunohistochemstry and Western blot. D2-40 was used as the specific lymphatic endothelial marker for detecting lymphatic vessels in pancreatic cancer. The expression of VEGF-C with prognosis was determined by Kaplan-Meier method. Results VEGF-C protein positive product was observed in cytoplasm of tumor cells, the expression levels of VEGF-C were significantly higher in lymph node metastatic group than in nonmetastatic group (p 0.05) by immunohistochemistry and Western blot. D2-40 specifically expressed in lymphatic endothelium in pancreatic cancer, the lymphatic vessel number density (LVD) was significantly higher in VEGF-C positive group than in VEGF-C negative group (p 0.05), indicating that VEGF-C expression was closely correlated with lymphangiogenesis in pancreatic cancer. Kaplan-Meier analyses proved that the survival rate in VEGF-C negative group were higher than that in VEGF-C positive group. Conclusion VEGF-C plays an important role in tumor lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis in pancreatic cancer, could be a factor in evaluating the prognosis of patient with pancreatic cancer.