Vascular density in carcinoma of the uterine cervix and its predictive value for radiotherapy

The vascular density (VD) in stage-III tumors of the uterine cervix was determined by morphometric analysis of histologic, Masson-trichrome stained sections prepared from biopsies. In a retrospective study, VD was found to be related to results of radiotherapy, larger VD being associated with prolonged survival, in agreement with similar observations made earlier with stage-IB and -IIA tumors of the cervix. In a complementary study the variation of VD within tumors was investigated in relation to the variation between tumors using surgically removed cervical carcinomas in stage IB. Statistically significant F-ratios were calculated, suggesting a more or less individual pattern of vascularization of the tumors despite a considerable intra-tumoral heterogeneity of the vasculature. It is concluded that VD may reflect oxygenation of neoplastic tissue, and may have a predictive value in regard to the response of tumors to irradiation.