Correlation between expression of S100A4, vascular endothelial growth factor C and D with lymph node metastasis and prognosis in gastric carcinoma

Objective To research the expression of S100A4 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) C and D in gastric carcinoma and there correlation with clinicopathological features and prognosis.Methods S100A4,VEGF-C and VEGF-D proteins were measured in 108 gastric carcinoma specimens and 20 specimens in adjacent carcinoma tissue by using immunohistochemistry.The correlations between the expression of S100A4,VEGF-C and VEGF-D with patients' age,gender,the tumor size,pathological differentiation,invasion depth,TNM stage and prognosis were evaluated.Results The expression levels of S100A4,VEGF-C and VEGF-D in gastric carcinoma were significantly higher than those in adjacent carcinoma tissues (P ＜ 0.05 ).The expression of S100A4 was associated with the tumor size and lymph node metastasis (P ＜ 0.05),and that of VEGF-C was associated with lymph node metastasis and clinical TNM stage (P ＜ 0.05),but that of VEGF-D was not associated with lymph node metastasis and clinical TNM stage ( P ＞ 0.05 ).S100A4 was positively correlated with VEGF-C in carcinoma tissues ( P ＜0.05).Five-year survival rate of carcinoma patients with positive expression of S100A4,VEGF-C and VEGF-D was lower than that of negative cases,but there were no statistically significant differences ( P ＞0.05).Conclusion The expression of S100A4 and VEGF-C is associated wtih lymph node metastasis.The expression of VEGF-C is associated with the pathway of lymphangiogenesis and may play an important role in lymph node metastasis in gastric carcinoma. Key words: Gastric carcinoma;  S100A4;  Vascular endothelial growth factor;  Lymph node metastasis