Lymphatic vessel density within the marginal zone of bladder cancer and its roles in the carcinogenesis and development of bladder cancer

Objective To detect the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-D (VEGF-D) and investigate lymphatic vessel density (LVD) with positive D2-40 expression in order to confirm the roles of LVD in the growth,progression and lymph node metastases of bladder transitional cell carcinoma (BTCC).Methods The expression of VEGF-D was detected by SP immunohistochem- ical method and tissue microarray and the expression of D2-40 was detected by SP immunohisto- chemical method in 15 normal bladder tissues and 53 samples of BTCC,and LVD was counted. Results The expression of VEGF-D was associated with tumor grade (P0.01),clinical stage (P0.01) and lymph node metastasis (P0.01).LVD within the marginal zone was higher than that in intra-tumor and normal bladder tissue (P0.01) and positively correlated with tumor grade (P0.01),clinical stage(P0.01) and lymph node metastasis (P0.01).There was a positive correlation between the expression of VEGF-D and LVD (P0.01,r_s=0.747).Conclu- sion Expression of VEGF-D and LVD within the marginal zone of BTCC are concerned with its growth,progression and lymph node metastasis,and VEGF-D may promote lymphangiogenesis process.