Lymphatic vessel densities of lymph node-negative prostate adenocarcinoma in Korea

Although lymphatic vessel density (LVD) is associated with regional lymph node (LN) metastasis in prostate adenocarcinoma, no study is available that examines whether the LVD is correlated with prognostic factors other than LN metastasis in LN-negative prostate adenocarcinoma. The aim of our study was to analyze intratumoral (IT), peritumoral (PT), and nontumoral (NT) LVDs, and to determine if there is a correlation between the LVD and the clinicopathological parameters in the Korean LN-negative prostate adenocarcinoma patients. Lymphatics were detected by immunohistochemical staining using D2-40 antibody on 39 radical prostatectomy specimens. Mean LVDs of IT, PT, and NT compartments were 5.39+/-4.22, 10.71+/-4.61, and 2.04+/-1.34 per 200 x field, respectively. The difference in LVD among the compartments was significant (P<0.001). The IT-LVD was significantly lower in patients with larger tumor volume (P=0.029) and higher preoperative prostate-specific antigen level (P=0.008). The PT-LVD showed no significant correlation with the clinicopathological parameters. Our results suggest that IT- and PT-LVDs may increase in LN-negative prostate adenocarcinoma as a result of lymphangiogenesis, but IT lymphatics may decrease due to mechanical compression and destruction caused by proliferating tumor cells. In addition, IT-LVD may be used as a prognostic factor in LN-negative prostate adenocarcinoma.