The effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy on microvessel density and lymphatic microvessel density in uterine cervical cancer and its clinical impact / 肿瘤

ABSTRACT

Objective: To investigate the effect of neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) on microvessel density (MVD)/ lymphatic microvessel density (LMVD) in locally advanced uterine cervical cancer and its clinical impact. Methods: Seventy patients with IB2-IIB cervical cancer were recruited, and the surgical specimens of cervical cancer tissues were collected. The MVD and LMVD of cervical cancer were examined by immunohistochemistry, and the relationship between clinical response of NACT and the clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed. Results: The levels of MVD and LMVD in cervical cancer tissues were significantly higher than those in the normal cervical tissues (P<0.001; P=0.028). The MVD was related to the depth of cancer invasion (P=0.039), and the LMVD was related to the level of serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCAg) and the lymph node metastasis (P=0.017; P=0.049). The level of MVD was significantly decreased after NACT as compared with that before NACT (P=0.019). As compared with the levels of MVD and LMVD before NACT, these levels were both decreased after NACT (P=0.019; P=0.176). The overall response rate of NACT was 70.0% (49/70), and the complete response rate was 21.4% (15/70). Multivariate analysis displayed that the depth of cancer invasion was an independent factor related to the response of NACT (P=0.018, odds ratio = 0.169). Conclusion: NACT can be helpful to reduce the level of MVD and the volume of tumor in locally advanced cervical cancer. Copyright© 2011 by TUMOR.