Expression of VEGF-C and lymphatic vessel density with tumor lymph node metastasis and prognosis of esophageal carcinoma

Objective:To study the expression of vascular endothelia growth factor C(VEGF-C)and lymphatic vessel density(LVD) in carcinoma tissue and their relationship with tumor lymph node metastasis and disease prognosis and to explore the possible mechanism of lymph metastasis.Methods: The expression of VEGF-C in tumor areas of 59 cases of esophageal carcinomas was evaluated by immunohistochemistry.And the LVD and microvessel density(MVD) were evaluated by immunohistochemistry,using polyclonal antibody for vascular endothelia growth factor receptor-3(VEGFR-3) and monoclonal antibody for CD34 respectively.The relationship between VEGF-C/LVD and clinicopathologic features and prognosis was analyzed.Results: The rate of positive expression of VEGF-C in tumor tissue was significantly higher than that in normal esophageal mucosa(P=0.05).The LVD at tumor borders(31.21±11.47) was significantly higher than that in normal tissue(11.71±4.70)and the expressions of VEGF-C and LVD were correlated.The expression of VEGF-C and LVD for the group with lymph node metastases was significantly higher than that for the one without lymph node metastases(P0.01,P0.05).For the group with lymph node metastasis,2 years survival rate was significantly lower than that for the one without metastasis(P0.05)For the group with positive expression of VEGF-C,2 years survival rate was significantly lower than that for the one with negative expression(P0.01).Conclusion: High LVD and VEGF-C in tumor tissue are associated with lymph node metastasis.It is likely that via lymph node metastasis,expression of VEGF-C acts on the disease prognosis.