The Expression VEGF-C And VEGFR-3 In Human Rectal Cancer And Its Correlations With Lymphangiogenesis

Objective: To investigate the relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3 (VEGFR-3) in human rectal cancer, and their correlations with lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis.Methods:Expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 were detected in 15 tissue samples of normal rectal mucosa,55 tissue samples of rectal cancer and 55 tissue samples of corresponding normal mucosa with immunohistochemistry. Lymphatic vessel density (LVD) were assessed after staining with D2-40-specific antibody. We analyzed their relationship and correlation with clinicopathologic findings.Results:1. The expression rate of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 in human rectal cancer were 63.60% and 60.0% in this study, and both of them were higher in rectal cancer than the normal rectal tissue and corresponding normal tissue. A significant correlation was found between the expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 in human rectal cancer (r=0.386, P<0.05).2. The expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 in human rectal cancer were correlated with lymph node metastasis and Dukes stage (P<0.05), and neither of them was associated with gender, age, tumor size, the degree of differentiation and the depth of tumor invasion (P>0.05).3. LVD of rectal cancer was significantly higher than the corresponding normal tissue (P<0.05), and LVD was correlated with lymph node metastasis and Dukes stage (P<0.05), but LVD was not associated with gender, age, tumor size, the degree of differentiation and depth of tumor invasion (P>0.05), the expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 have significant correlation with LVD of rectal cancer.Conclusions:1. The expression of VEGF-C, VEGFR-3 protein and lymphatic vessel density(LVD) were significantly increased in rectal cancer tissues, and it closely related with lymph node metastasis, which suggested that VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 might promote lymphatic metastasis by inducing tumor lymphangiogenesis.2. The detection of VEGF-C, VEGFR-3 and LVD may be useful for assessment of the rectal cancer lymphatic metastasis and also have a benefit for guide treatment and evaluating prognosis.3. VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 signal pathways might be a new target for controlling tumor lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic metastasis in rectal cancer.