Clinical Significance of Intratumoral Microvessel Density in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of the Esophagus

Purpose The purpose of this study was to discuss the clinical significance of microvessel density(MVD) in squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) of the esophagus. Methods Intratumoral MVD was immunohistochemically studied in 45 cases of esophageal SCC after radical esophagectomy.The relationship bet-ween them and clinocopathological factors was analyzed.All analyses were performed with SPSS 10.0. Results The mean value of MVD was 15.58,the median level of MVD was 15.Intratumoral MVD significantly correlated with the tumor local invasion,the lymph node metastasis,and the stage of tumor advancement(P0.05).The survival rate for patients with high MVD(MVD15) was significantly worse than those with low MVD(MVD≤15)(P=0.027 8).A multivariate analysis revealed MVD to be an independent predictor of unfavorable prognosis. Conclusions Tumor angiogenesis correlates with tumor progression in esophageal cancer.High MVD is associated with poorer survival rate.Tumor angiogenesis expression as MVD is an independent prognostic indicator in patients undergoing radical esophagectomy for invasive esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.