Relationship between lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis of gastric carcinoma

Objective To study the relationship between lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis of gastric carcinoma by detecting the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF)-C, VEGF-D and their receptor-3(VEGFR-3) in patients with gastric carcinoma. Methods Paraffin-embedded specimens from 108 patients with gastric carcinoma(including 76 patients with lymph node metastasis and 32 patients without node metastasis) were used to evaluate the expression of VEGF-C, VEGF-D, and VEGFR-3 by S-P immunohistochemical staining. Results The expression of VEGF-C and VEGF-D was significantly higher in specimens of gastric carcinoma than that of the corresponding adjacent peritumoral tissues. And there was statistically significant difference between the group with lymph node metastasis and the group without lymph node metastasis(P0.05). Positive correlation was found among the expression of VEGF-C, VEGF-D and VEGFR-3 in gastric carcinomas. Conclusion VEGF-C, VEGF-D and VEGFR-3may promote the lymphatic metastasis of gastric carcinoma. Combined detection of these three markers in biopsy specimens of gastric carcinoma may be helpful in predicting the lymphatic metastasis.