Relationship between D2-40-labeled lymphatic vessel invasion and lymph node metastasis of breast cancer / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the feasibility of D2-40 labeling for detecting lymphatic vessels in breast cancer tissues and the clinicopathological implications of lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of D2-40 and lymphatic invasion in 72 cases of breast cancer and 15 benign breast tumor tissues, and their correlations to the clinicopathological factors were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positivity rate of LVI was 69.4% in breast cancer tissue. In patients with lymph node metastasis, the positivity rate of LVI was significantly higher than that in patients without lymph node involvement (85.7% vs 54.1%, P<0.01), and LVI was found to be positively correlated to axillary lymph node metastasis (r=0.382).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>D2-40 can specially and reliably mark the lymphatic vessels in breast cancer tissues. LVI is positively correlated to axillary lymph node metastasis and occurs earlier than the latter, therefore should be included in routine clinicopathological testing.</p>

Expressions of D2-40 and CD34 in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast and the clinical implications / 南方医科大学学报

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of D2-40 and CD34 in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast and the clinical significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>D2-40 and CD34 expressions were detected immunohistochemically in 108 cases of invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast and 30 cases of breast fibroadenoma. The lymphatic microvessel density (LMD) and the microvessel density (MD), marked by D2-40 and CD34, respectively, were calculated and their relationship with the clinicopathological factors was analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The LMD and MD for invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast were significantly higher than those of breast fibroadenoma (P<0.01). One-way ANOVA indicated that the LMD differed significantly between tumors of different histological grades, status of lymph node metastasis and TNM stages; the MD also varied significantly with the tumor size, histological grade, lymph node metastasis and TNM stage. The LMD and MD showed a positive correlation to the tumor size (r=0.335, 0.337), histological grade (r=0.580, 0.671), lymph node metastasis (r=0.690, 0.721) and TNM stage (r=0.623, 0.634), but not to ER, PR or Her-2 status (P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>D2-40 can specifically mark the lymphatic endothelial cells in invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast. The LMD and MD are positively correlated to the clinicopathological factors of the malignancy. D2-40 and CD34 has the potential for use as the predictors to evaluate the tumor progression and metastasis.</p>