Relationship between the expression of VEGF-C,VEGFR-3 and lymph node metastasis in human colon cancer

Objective To explore the relationship between the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor C(VEGF-C),vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3(VEGFR-3)and lymph node metastasis in human colon cancer.Methods Immuohistochemistry(S-P)was used to detect the expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 in 65 samples of human colon cancer.The relationship between the expression of VEGF-C/ VEGFR-3and clinical pathological parameterswas analyzed.Results The positive rates of VEGF-C expressionin positive lymph node group was higher significantly than that in negative lymph node group(68.4% vs 25.9%,P0.01),and the positive rates of VEGFR-3 expressionin lymph node metastasisgroup was remarkablyhigher than that without lymph node metastasisgroup(57.9% vs 18.5%,P0.01).Furthermore,the positive expressionof VEGF-Cwas consistent with the positive expression of VEGFR-3.The expression levels of VEGF-CandVEGFR-3 were closelycorrelated with lymph node metastasisand invasion depth,but not with patient's age,sex,tumor size,histological type and cellular differentiation.Conclusion The expression of VEGF-CandVEGFR-3 contributed to the lymphatic invasion and metastasis of colon cancer,and may become a predictor of the prognosis of patient.