Histochemical evaluation of angiogenesis in endometrial adenocarcinoma

The formation of new vessels from endothelial cells, termed angiogenesis, is a complex process that is controlled by numerous paracrine factors. Vacularization of tumor tissue is a prerequsite for tumor growth and enables the dissemination of tumor cells throughout the body. Angiogenesis is classically assessed by counting the vessels or clusters of endothelial cells after selective immunohistochemical staining. In this study, vascularization of tumor tissue was evaluated quantitatively in 36 cases of stage I endometrial adenocarcinoma. The goal of this study was to evaluate whether the microvessel density correlates with the invasion potential of endometrial adenocarcinoma. The results show an increase in the number of endothelial cells at different stages in endometrial adenocarcinoma stage I and a strong positive correlation between the endothelial-to-stromal ratio and tumor grading.