食管鳞癌组织COX-2和VEGF-C表达与淋巴转移的关系

Correlation between COX-2 and VEGF-C expressions and lymphatic metastasis in esophageal squamous carcinoma

目的:观察环氧化酶2(COX2)和血管内皮生长因子C(VEGFC)在食管鳞癌组织中的表达,分析其与淋巴转移的关系及二者的相关性.方法:采用免疫组化方法检测COX2和VEGFC在72例食管鳞癌及24例正常食管黏膜组织中的表达.结果:72例食管鳞癌组织中COX2和VEGFC的阳性表达率分别为48.6%和38.9%,而正常食管黏膜组织中未见COX2和VEGFC抗原表达.COX2和VEGFC的表达与肿瘤浸润深度、淋巴结转移有关(P均<0.01),而与患者年龄、肿瘤大小和组织学分级无关.COX2和VEGFC的表达呈正相关(列联系数C=0.342,P=0.002).结论:COX2可能参与VEGFC淋巴管生成通路,在食管鳞癌的淋巴转移中发挥重要作用.

AIM： To investigate the correlation of the expressions of cycleoxygenase-2 （COX-2） and vascular endothelial growth factor-C （VEGF-C） in esophageal squamous carcinoma and their implication in tumor lymphatic metastasis. METHODS： The expressions of COX-2 and VEGF-C were examined by immunohistochemical method in 72 cases of esophageal squamous carcinoma and 24 cases of normal esophageal mucosa. RESULTS： The positive rates of COX-2 and VEGF-C in esophageal squamous carcinoma were 48.6% and 38.9% respectively, and no expressions of COX-2 or VEGF-C were detected in normal esophageal mucosa. The expressions of COX-2 and VEGF-C were significandy associated with the depth of tumor invasion and lymph node metastasis （P 〈0.01 ）, but not with the patient age, tumor size or differentiation. The expression of COX-2 was closely correlated with that of VEGF-C （ contingency coefficient = 0. 342, P = 0.002）. CONCLUSION： COX-2 may participate in VEGF-C lymphangiogenic pathway and play an important role in the lymphatic metastasis of esophageal squamous carcinoma.