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Objective:To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of invasive micropapillary carcinoma (IMPC) of the breast. Methods:Data of 65 IMPC cases obtained from the Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University between Janu-ary 2009 and December 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. The expression of epithelial membrane antigen (EMA) was evaluated us-ing immunohistochemistry (IHC) to detect the micropapillary component in the tumor. The patients were divided into 4 groups based on the percentage of micropapillary component:≤10%, 11%-30%, 31%-50%, and>50%. Expressions of estrogen receptor (ER), pro-gesterone receptor (PR), and HER-2 were analyzed by IHC. Kaplan-Meier method, Log rank test, and multivariate Cox proportional hazard model were used to determine the factors affecting post-treatment survival. Results:Of the 65 cases, 12 were simple IMPC, 46 were IMPC with invasive ductal carcinoma, and 7 were other invasive carcinoma cases. The≤10%, 11%-30%, 31%-50%, and>50%micropapillary component groups comprised 7.69%(5/65), 44.62%(29/65), 26.15%(17/65), and 21.54%(14/65) of the total cases, re-spectively. Statistically significant differences were found in the four groups (P<0.01). IHC results showed that the positive rates of ER, PR, and HER-2 in the IMPC tissues were 76.92%(50/65), 67.69%(44/65), and 24.62%(16/65), respectively. Statistical differences ex-isted among the groups (P<0.05). Kaplan-Meier method indicated that positive rate of lymph node metastasis, the proportion of IMPC, vascular invasion, and the expression of ER, PR, and HER-2 significantly affect survival time of IMPC cases (P<0.05). Conclusion:Positive rate of nodal metastasis, the proportion of IMPC, vascular invasion, and the expression of ER, PR, and HER-2 are correlated with the prognosis of IMPC.
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The lymphatic vessel is a crucial pathway for tumor metastasis. The discovery of more lymphatic growth factors and lymphatic vessel markers signifies the significant progress of studies on the role of vascular endothelial growth factor-C/D (VEGF-C/D) and one of its specific receptors in the mechanisms of tumor lymph-angiogenesis and lymph node metastasis. VEGF-C/D expression is related to the clinicopathologic features of gastric cancer, including lymph metastasis, micro-lymphatic vessel density in the paraneo-plastic tissues, survival rate, and prognosis. Experimental animal models and in vitro experiments show that suppression of VEGF-C/D expression is beneficial in gastric cancer treatment. This article provides an overview of the association between VEGF-C/D and lymph node metastasis in gastric cancer.