Detection of expression of vascular endothelial growth factor C/VEGFR-3 in early stage cervical cancer by tissue microarray assay and its significance

Objective To detect the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor C(VEGF-C)/VEGFR-3 in cervical cancer by tissue microarray assay,and to explore their relationships with lymph node metastasis. Methods The expression of VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 protein in 59 patients with lymph node metastasis and 38 patients without lymph node metastasis was detected by immunohistochemistry. Results VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 protein expression was more frequently detected in tumors with lymph node metastasis than in those without lymph node metastasis(P=0.024,P=0.000 0).Furthermore,VEGF-C protein expression had direct proportion with VEGFR-3 protein expression. Conclusion VEGF-C and its receptor VEGFR-3 play a role in the development of cervical cancer,and the tumors with expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 are more likely to have lymph node metastasis.It is feasible to use tissue microarray assay for rapid,economic and accurate screening of clinical specimens on a large scale.