RESUMO
PURPOSE: In order to evaluate the clinical relevance of angiogenesis in patients with gastric cancer, we investigated the microvessel count in gastric cancer tissues and compared the results with several clinicopathologic factors and prognosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 256 patients with gastric cancer who underwent curative surgery were included in this study. Microvessel count was determined by im-munohistochemical staining using monoclonal antibody against factor VIII-related antigen. RESULTS: The statistical significance between the microvessel count and clinicopathologic factors (age, sex, tumor invasion, lymph node involvement, histologic type) was analized. The tumor stage and histologic type were correlated with microvessel count. And also there was statistical significance with survival rate and recurrence-free survival rate between high (microvessel count> or =42) and low angiogeneic group (microvessel count< 42). The Cox's proportional hazard model showed that stage, histologic type, angiogeneic score were one of the significant and independent prognostic variables. CONCLUSION: The tumor angiogenesis of gastric carcinoma may be independent prognostic factor for predicting recurrence and survival.