Thymidine Phosphorylase Expression in Progression of Cervical Lesions: Histological Features and Microvessel Density / 대한산부인과학회지

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The object of this study was to clarify the association of thymidine phosphorylase (TP) assessed in cancer cells and in stromal cells, with clinico-pathological factors including tumor angiogenesis and prognosis in cervical cancer. METHODS: From January 1999 to December 2001, 45 cervical tissue specimens were obtained by surgical resection in the Kyung Hee University Medical Center. The study group included 25 cases in invasive squamous cell carcinomas (SCC), 9 cases in carcinoma in situ (CIS), 7 cases in microinvasive carcinoma, 4 cases in the benign uterine diseases. They were analyzed for the cellular expression of TP and the intratumoral density of microvessels by immunohistochemistry using monoclonal antibodies to TP and factor VIII related antigen, respectively. RESULTS: Our data showed that TP expression and MVC (microvessel count) increased with histologic stage from normal, through CIS to SCC, respectively. The manifestaion of TP in the epithelium and the stroma is closely related with angiogenesis. Intraepithelial tumor revealed high expression rate of TP in the stroma, invasive cervical cancer in the epithelium, microinvasive cancer in the stroma and epithelium showing different areas of manifestation for each histologic condition, but did not show a statistically significant difference. In the case of cervical cancer, the more progressive the cancer, angiogenesis and the expression of TP increased significantly. Especially in the case of invasive cancer, stromal TP expression rate was high. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that thymidine phosphorylase might play an important role in angiogenesis, involving? cooperative epithelial and stromal expression of enzyme. Thymidine phosphorylase thus could be useful for a marker in assessing the survival rate in patients with cervical cancer.