Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor D in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue and its significance / 中华胃肠外科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor D (VEGF-D) in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and its significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The expression of VEGF-C mRNA in tumor tissues and non-cancer tissues from 39 ESCC patients in our hospital from March 2009 to February 2010 was detected by in situ hybridization (ISH) method. The expression of D2-40 was detected by immunohistochemistry,and microlymphatic vessel density (MLVD) was determined by lymphatic endothelial specific marker D2-40. The associations of VEGF-C mRNA expression with clinical data and MLVD were analyzed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Positive ISH VEGF-D mRNA was observed in tumor tissue samples of 22 cases (56.4%, 22/39) and non-cancer tissue sample of 1 case (2.6%, 1/39), whose difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The expression of VEGF-D mRNA in ESCC was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis [92.9% (13/14) vs. 36.0% (9/25), P<0.05] and MLVD [(8.20±1.22) vs. (5.31±0.97), P<0.01], but not significantly associated with age, sex, pathological grade and depth of infiltration.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>VEGF-D can promote lymphatic metastasis of ESSC by induction of lymphangiogenesis.</p>