Expression and clinical significance of LYVE-1 and VEGF-C in patients with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

Objective To elucidate the relationship between LYVE-1 and VEGF-C and their expression in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma(LSCC),and provide theoretic evidence for the judgement of metastasis and prognosis of LSCC,also for the treatment.Methods An immunohistocbemical analysis was performed to 50 specimens of LSCC with lymphatic endothelial marker LYVE-1.Quantitation of lymphangiogenesis growth factor VEGF-C by RT- PCR was performed to 30 specimens of LSCC.Finally the correlation between LVD and VEGF-C mRNA was analyzed with statistics methods.Results LYVE-1 (+) was observed in all LSCC.The median copy number of VEGF-c mRNA was 4-5-fold higher in LSCC than in adjacent normal tissue.There was correlation between tumor VEGF-C mRNA copy number and intratumoral LVD.Conclusion Lymphatic vessels existed in LSCC.There was correlation between high levels of LVD in LSCC than in normal tissue.The high level of VEGF-C may accelerate the lymphatic metastasis by promoting the proliferation of lymphatic vessel. Key words: Laryngeal neoplasms; Vascular endothelial growth factor C