非小细胞肺癌组织中VEGF-C表达与淋巴转移的关系

A study on the relationship between VEGF-C expression and lymphatic metastasis in non-small cell lung cancer

背景与目的 肺癌的复发和转移与其血管生成和淋巴管生成密切相关,而血管内皮生长因子C (vascularendothelialgrowthfactorC,VEGF C)表达与非小细胞肺癌(non smallcelllungcancer,NSCLC)组 织中血管和淋巴管生成的关系却知之甚少。本研究旨在探讨肺癌组织中VEGF C表达与肿瘤组织中微血管 和淋巴管生成及肺癌淋巴转移的关系。方法 采用免疫组化LSAB法检测78例肺癌组织中VEGF C、血管 内皮细胞及淋巴管内皮标记物CD31和VEGFR 3,并计算肿瘤微血管密度(microvesseldensity,MVD)和微 淋巴管密度(lymphaticmicrovesseldensity,LMVD)。结果 肺癌组织中VEGF C表达的阳性率为52.6% (41/78);伴有淋巴结转移的肺癌组织中VEGF C表达(30/43,69.7%)显著高于无淋巴结转移者(11/35, 30.3%)(P<0.05);VEGF C阴性组的微淋巴管密度(23.4±2.3)显著低于VEGF C阳性组(43.2±4.1)(P <0.05),而微血管密度在两组之间差异无统计学意义(31.1±1.8比28.1±3.2,P>005);伴有淋巴结转移 的肺癌组织中微淋巴管密度和微血管密度(分别为33.6±1.1和41.3±3.3)均显著高于不伴有淋巴结转移 者(分别为18.7±1.8和25.7±2.1)(P<0.05)。结论 VEGF C可能主要通过调节肺癌组织中微淋巴管的

Background and objective It has been known that an intensive relationship exists between the recurrence or metastasis and angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), but it is uncertain whether there is relationship between VEGF-C expression and angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in NSCLC tissues. This study is to explore the relationship among VEGF-C expression and angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic metastasis in NSCLC tissues. Methods The expression of VEGF-C was detected in 78 lung cancer tissues with or without lymphatic metastasis by LSAB methods. Microvessel density (MVD) and lymphatic microvessel density (LMVD) were determined in the same patients by CD31 and VEGFR-3 respectively. Results The positive rate of VEGF-C expression was 52.6% (41/78) in NSCLC tissues; VEGF-C expression in lung cancer tissues with lymphatic metastasis (30/43, 69.7%) was significantly higher than that without lymphatic metastasis (11/35, 30.3%) (P<0.05); LMVD in the group without VEGF-C expression (23.4±2.3) was significantly lower than that with VEGF-C expression (43.2±4.1) (P<0.05), there was no singificant difference in MVD between the two groups (31.1±1.8 vs 28.1± 3.2) (P>0.05); the MVD and LMVD in lung cancer tissues with lymphatic metastasis (33.6±1.1 and 41.3±3.3 respectively) were significantly higher than those without lymphatic metastasis (18.7±1.8 and 25.7± 2.1 respectively) (P<0 05). Conclusion The results suggest that VEGF-C may play an important role in the lymphatic metastasis of lung cancer through the regulation of lymphangiogenesis.