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Microvessel count predicts metastasis and prognosis in patients with gastric cancer
M Araya1, M Terashima, A Takagane
1Department of Surgery 1, Iwate Medical University, Morioka, Japan. mterashi@iwate-med.ac.jp
Background And Objectives:
In order to evaluate the clinical relevance of angiogenesis in patients with gastric cancer, we investigated the microvessel count in gastric cancer tissues and compared the results with several clinicopathologic factors and prognosis.
Methods:
A total of 55 patients with gastric cancer were included in this study. Microvessel count was determined by immunohistochemical staining using antifactor VIII-related antigen antibody. Histologically recognizable blood vessels within tissue sections served as internal control for immunostaining. Normal mouse IgG diluted to an equivalent protein concentration was used as a negative control in place of the primary antibody in each experiment.
Result:
The microvessel count ranged from 4.4 to 39.8 and the median count was 15.6. Microvessel count was significantly higher in patients with hepatic metastasis, lymph node metastasis, adjacent organ invasion, and lymphatic invasion. In patients who had undergone a curative operation, survival time in the hypervascular group was significantly shorter than that in the hypovascular group.
Conclusions:
Microvessel count correlated well with tumor progression and may serve as a useful prognostic factor in patients with gastric cancer.