Detection Of Lymphangiogenesis In Non-small Cell Lung Cancer And Its Clinical Significance

In recent years, with the identification of lymphatic endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C), VEGF-D and lymphatic endothelial markers including lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor-1 (LYVE-1), VEGF receptor-3 (VEGFR-3), glomerular podocyte membrance mucoprotein (podoplanin) and a homeobox transcription factor (Prox-1), lymphangiogenesis has become one of the highlights of in the field of tumor metastasis study. It has been demonstrated that lymphangiogenesis induced by VEGF-C/VEGF-D plays a crucial role in promoting tumor cell dissemination to regional lymph nodes in animal models. Human tumor lymphangiogenesis in many solid tumors including breast cancer, melanoma and head and neck carcinoma, have been also identified. The data of tumor lymphangiogenesis, however, are often controversial with the focus on two questions. One is whether fuctional lymphatic vessels exist within tumors or not; the other is which one on earth plays a dominant role in tumor metastasis, intratumoral or peritumoral lymphangiogenesis? Presently, the relationships among the expression of VEGF-C/VEGFR-3, lymph node metastasis and prognosis have been studied in the field of lymphangiogenesis in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), while few data exists so far about impact of lymphangiogenesis on the prognosis of NSCLC patients. Further study on the mechanism and significance of lymphangiogenesis in NSCLC would be of benefit to providing experimental evidence for anti-lymphangiogenic therapy.Objective To select the most specific lymphatic endothelial marker through comparisons among LYVE-1, podoplanin and VEGFR-3 for the further study on the mechanism of intra- and peritumoral lymphangiogenesis and their relevance with various clinical pathological parameters including the presence of lymph node metastasis and prognosis in NSCLC.Method 1.A total 82 cases of NSCLC patients with detail clinical and complete postoperative follow-up records in Xinqiao hospital from January 1, 1995 to December 31,...