RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic metastasis in cervical squamous carcinoma. METHODS: Eighty cases of invasive cervical squamous cancer were selected as objects of our study. Double immunohistochemical staining with antibodies against lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor 1 and Ki-67 was used to label the lymphatic vessels and mark the proliferative lymphatic vessels in cervical squamous cancer. The peritumoral lymphatic vessel density and intratumoral lymphatic vessel density was assessed. The lymphatic vessels proliferation index was evaluated by calculating Ki-67 proliferation index (PI) to reflect the lymphangiogenesis of cervical squamous cancer. Then the correlation between lymphangiogenesis and clinicopathologic features of cervical squamous cancer was analyzed. RESULTS: The LVD of cervical cancer (15.23 ± 3.6) was clearly higher than that of the adjacent normal cervical subepithelial tissues (9.9 ± 2.5, P < 0.001). The peritumoral lymphatic vessel density of cervical cancer (18.75 ± 4.3) was significantly higher than the intratumoral lymphatic vessel density of cervical cancer (11.71 ± 4.9, P < 0.001). Lymphatic PI (LPI) of cervical cancer (0.258 ± 0.07) was higher than that of the adjacent normal cervical subepithelial tissues (0.068 ± 0.08, P < 0.001). The peritumoral lymphatic vessel PI of cervical cancer (0.324 ± 0.06) was notably higher than the intratumoral lymphatic vessel PI of cervical cancer (0.232 ± 0.06, P < 0.001). Peritumoral lymphatic vessel density and peritumoral lymphatic vessel were clearly associated with the lymph node metastasis (P = 0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively) and lymphovascular space invasion (P = 0.024 and P = 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The high density of peritumoral lymphatic vessels is a potential predictor of more aggressive phenotype of cervical squamous cancer.
Asunto(s)
Carcinoma de Células Escamosas/patología , Linfangiogénesis , Vasos Linfáticos/patología , Neoplasias del Cuello Uterino/patología , Adulto , Anciano , Carcinoma de Células Escamosas/metabolismo , Proliferación Celular , Femenino , Humanos , Técnicas para Inmunoenzimas , Antígeno Ki-67/metabolismo , Metástasis Linfática , Vasos Linfáticos/metabolismo , Persona de Mediana Edad , Invasividad Neoplásica , Estadificación de Neoplasias , Pronóstico , Neoplasias del Cuello Uterino/metabolismo , Proteínas de Transporte Vesicular/metabolismo , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: The study was to explore the role of EFEMP1 protein in angiogenesis and its relationship with prognosis of cervical carcinoma. METHODS: EFEMP1 expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry. The microvascular density (MVD) was detected with CD34 staining, and VEGF mRNA expression was evaluated by hybridization in situ. The associations of EFEMP1 with clinicopathologic characteristics, MVD, VEGF mRNA and overall survival were studied. RESULTS: EFEMP1 expression was positively correlated with MVD and VEGF mRNA, and its overexpression was found to be significantly associated with lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion and poor survival. Multivariate analysis showed that EFEMP1 overexpression was independently related to poor prognosis of cervical cancer. CONCLUSIONS: EFEMP1 promotes angiogenesis and associates with lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion and poor prognosis of cervical carcinoma. The current study shows that EFEMP1 may be a useful prognostic factor for patients with cervical carcinoma.
