[Correlation between the vascular endothelial growth factor C expression and lymph node metastasis in human...

To detect the expression of vessel endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and microlymphatic vessel density (MLVD) and probe the relationship between lymphangiogenesis and lymph node micrometastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.

The expression of VEGF-C, was evaluated in 58 cases with nasopharyngeal carcinoma and 20 samples of nasopharyngitis tissues by immunohistochemical staining SP methods. The MLVD in tumor was counted by immunostaining with the specific antibody lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronic acid receptor 1 and analyzed with clinicopathologic parameters.

The positive rate of VEGF-C was 84.5% and 15.0% respectively in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and nasopharyngitis tissues, there was significant difference between them (chi2 = 32.309, P <0.01). The microlymphatic vessel density was (28.6 +/- 6.2) pieces per field and (10.5 +/- 3.0) pieces per field respectively in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and nasopharyngitis tissues, there was significant difference between them (t = 12.491, P <0.01). The expression of VEGF-C and the MLVD were significantly higher in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and in lymph node metastasis group than in no-metastasis group. The expression of VEGF-C was positively correlated with MLVD (t =3.512, P <0.01), lymph node metastasis (chi2 =7.715, P <0.01, r =0.712) and clinical stage (chi2 =4.250, P <0.05, r =0.481).

In nasopharyngeal carcinoma, the expression rate of VEGF-C was high. VEGF-C expression was positively correlated with MLVD and lymph node metastasis and tumor staging. It was explained that VEGF-C attached itself to the emergence and infiltration and transfer of NPC. There was close correlation between the expression of VEGF-C and MLVD. It was explained that the expression of VEGF-C in NPC was correlated to neoplasm lymphangiogenesis and that VEGF-C played a vital role in the progression of NPC. VEGF-C was likely to a potential target of anticancer therapy.