ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial cell growth factor-C (VEGF-C) and its receptor--vascular endothelial cell growth factor receptor-3 (VEGFR-3) in breast cancer tissue and its correlation with metastasis of lymphonodi axillares.Methods Fifty-eight cases of breast cancer samples and 10 cases of tumor adjacent non-carcinomatous tissue were measured by immunohistochemical staining for expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3. Their expression rates were compared between axillary lymph node metastasis and non-metastasis groups.Results The positive rates of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 as well as the number of VEGFR-3 positive vessels were significantly higher than those in lymph node non-metastasis group (87.5% vs 55.9%; 83.3% vs 38.2%; 8.54±2.54 vs 4.73±2.46, respectively).Conclusion The high expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 as well as the increase in the number of VEGFR-3 positive vessels are related to lymph node metastasis of human breast cancer. VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 system may be a new specific target which contributes to blockage of lymphatic metastasis in breast cancer.