RESUMEN
Objective To investigate the expression of interleukin-33(IL-33)and vascular endothelial growth factor C(VEGF-C)in gastric cancer tissues and serum,and to explore the relationship between these two indicators and gastric cancer lymph node metastasis.Methods The levels of IL-33 and VEGF-C in the tissues of gastric mucosa and serum were detected by immunohistochemical SP method and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)in 98 patients with gastric cancer and 36 healthy subjects.Results The expression rates of IL-33 and VEGF-C in gastric cancer were 67.35％and 74.49％,which were significantly higher than the rates in normal gastric tissue(47.22％and 61.11％).The difference was statistically significant(P<0.01).The expression of IL-33 and VEGF-C was correlated with the degree of tumor differentiation,tissue infiltration,lymph node metastasis,distant metastasis and clinical stage(P<0.05).The positive rates of IL-33 and VEGF-C in gastric cancer lymph node metastasis group were higher than those in non-lymph node metastasis group(P<0.05).The serum concentrations of IL-33 and VEGF-C in patients with gastric cancer were(50.24±13.08)pg/mL and(210.73±58.35)pg/mL,respectively,which were higher than those in healthy control group(P<0.05);the expressions of serum concentration of IL-33 and VEGF-C in the cases with lymph node metastasis were higher than those without lymph node metastasis and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).Conclusion High levels of IL-33 in gastric carcinoma patients might induce the secretion of VEGF-C,promote lymph node metastasis,and be applied as an important index of the appraisal to the prognosis of gastric cancer.