舌鳞状细胞癌淋巴管密度与淋巴转移的关系

Relationship between lymphatic vessel density of tongue cancer and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor D and tumor metastasis

目的探讨舌鳞癌组织中淋巴管密度与鳞癌侵袭和转移的关系。方法选择62例舌鳞癌标本,采用免疫组化SP法检测血管内皮生长因子受体-3(VEGFR-3)和血管内皮生长因子-D(VEGF-D)的表达。结果62例舌鳞癌标本中有56例标本的VEGFR-3呈阳性表达,但功能性淋巴管主要分布在癌组织周围,癌间质中未见明显的成形淋巴管。舌鳞癌组织中淋巴管密度与舌鳞癌患者年龄、性别无关,而与舌鳞癌病理分级、临床分期和有无淋巴结状况密切相关(P<0.05)。VEGF-D在癌细胞胞质呈阳性表达,且随着VEGF-D表达增强,癌组织周围淋巴管密度亦明显增加。结论VEGF-D和VEGFR-3途径可促进鳞癌淋巴管新生和淋巴转移。

Objective To investigate the relationship between lymphatic vessel density （LVD） in tongue squamous cell carcinoma （TSCC） and tumor metastasis. Methods Immunohistochemistry SP method was applied to label the lymphatic vessels of tumors by VEGFR-3 staining in 62 cases of TSCC, the expression of VEGF-D were analyzed at the same time. Results Of the 62 patients, the positive staining of lymphatic vessels were 56 cases. The functional lymphatic vessels was mainly located in the peri-tumoral areas. No evidence of mature lymphatic vessels was found in the paraneoplastic stroma. The positive expression of VEGF-D was distributed in the cytoplasm of cancer cells. With the increase in the expression of VEGF-D, the LVD of peritumor also increased. Conclusion LVD in TSCC is significantly correlated with neck lymph node metastasis, VEGF-D/VEGFR-3 pathway can contribute to lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis.