ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the relationship between expressions of VEGF-C, VEGF-D and metastasis in papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. Methods Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the microvessel density(MVD) and expressions of VEGF-C and VEGF-D protein in 20 samples of nodular goiter and 115 samples with papillary carcinoma of the thyroid. Results The positive rates of VEGF-C and VEGF-D protein in nodular goiter were 15.0% and 20.0% respectively, and those in papillary carcinoma of the thyroid were 87.0% and 72.2%, respectively. The intratumour MVD in nodular goiter and papillary carcinoma of the thyroid was 15.2?6.7 and 21.5?8.5 respectively. The expressions of VEGF-C, VEGF-D protein and MVD in papillary carcinomas of the thyroid were significantly higher than those of nodular goiter. The expressions of VEGF-C and VEGF-D protein were closely related to lymph node metastasis of papillary carcinoma of the thyroid(P