Relationship between expression of VEGF-C and lymph node metastasis in human non-small cell lung cancer / 中国肺癌杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>It has been showed that VEGF-C can induce the proliferation of lymphocytes. The aim of this study is to explore the expression of VEGF-C in human non-small cell lung can-cer (NSCLC) and its relationship with lymph node metastasis.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of VEGF-C was examined in 60 human NSCLC tissues by immunohistochemical technique..</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The positive rate of VEGF-C expression was 65.00% (39/60) in NSCLC tissues. The expression of VEGF-C was significantly higher in cases with lymph node metastasis (83.33%, 20/24) than in those without lymph node metastasis (52.78%, 19/36) (P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>There is an overexpression of VEGF-C protein in human NSCLC tissues, which may correlate with lymph node metastasis. The expression of VEGF-C protein might be used as a useful mar- ker of lymph node metastasis in NSCLC.</p>