The Study Of Lymphangiogenesis And Lymphatic Metastasis In Squamous Cell Carcinoma Of The Tongue

Objective: To study lymphangiogenesis in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue and evaluate the relationship between lymphatic vascular density(LVD) /ralative lymphatic vasculature area (LVA )and cervical lymph node metastasis.Materials & Methods:1. 63 cases with SCC of the tongue undergone resection of primary lesion and neck dissection in Hospital of Stomatology,Wuhan University were recorded.2. Cytokerotin (CK) was applied as a marker for epithelial cells to detect micrometastatic lesions in the cervical lymph nodes.3. The special marker of lymphatic vessles,LYVE-1, was used in the study to observe lymphangiogenesis in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue.4. Computer-aided medical image analysis system (Motic Med 6.0) was applied to measure lymphatic vascular density (LVD) and lymphatic vascular area (LVA).5. The Mann-Whitney U test was employed to examine the association between lymphatic vessel parameters and cervical lymph nodes status and other clinicopathologic parameters,such as age,sex,T classification,histological degree of differentiation and pattern of invasion,using SPSS 10.0 software.Results:Immunohistochemistry,using CK,the marker of the epithelial cells,was capable of increasing the detection of micrometastasis in lymph nodes which was shown to be negative by mean of HE staining.No LYVE-1-positive intratumoral lymph vessels was present withinSCC of tongue.Some dilated lymphatics were usually seen in the vicinity of the tumor.The peritumoral LVD/LVA were not associated with cervical lymph node metastasis and other clinicopathologic parameters.Conclusion:No intratumoral lymphangiogenesis could be observed in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue.The peritumoral lymphatic parameters (LVD /LVA) were not associated with cervical lymph node metastasis.