The Investigation About The Correlation Of DcR3 With Lymphangiogenesis And Lymphatic Metastasis In Breast Cancer

[Objective] To investigate the correlation between DcR3 and lymphangiogenesis, dis cussing the the role of DcR3 in lymphatic metastasis of breast cancer.[Methods] The expression of DcR3 was examined by immunohistochemistry with SP in 41 case of breast cancer tissue and corresponding normal breast tissues, lymph node tissue. Lymphatic microvessels were identified by immunohistochemical staining using monoclonal antibody against human podoplanin (clone D2-40),the characteristic of microlymphatic vessel was observed and calculate the micro -lymphatic vessel density. The expression of DcR3 mRNA was examined by real time Polymerase Chain Reaction of breast cancer tissue and corresponding normal breast tissues, lymph node tissue. To analyze the relationgship betweet the expression of DcR3 mRNA and the microlymphatic vessel density, investigate the role of DcR3 in lymphatic matastasis of breast cancer.[Results] The expression of DcR3 was detected in 24 out of the 41 breast cancer case with a positive rate of 58.5%. A positive rate of 24.4% was detected in normal breast tissue. The expression of DcR3 was more higher in lymph node metastatic tissue than the corresponding non-metastatic tissue(P<0.05). The expression of DcR3 was correlated with lymph node metastasis(P<0.05). The mean of microlymphatic vessel density was more higher in breast cancer tissue (9.266±6.470) than that in normal breast tissue(2.773±1.571,P<0.01). The mean of microlymphatic vessel density in tissue surrounding the tumor(9.978±5.743) was higher than that in the center of cancer(8.554±5.124), but the difference has no significance(P>0.05). The mean of microlymphatic vessel density in breast cancer with lymph node metasta -sis(9.855±5.542) was dramatically higher than that in breast cancer without lymph node metastasis (1.810±1.611, P<0.000), The mean of microlymphatic vessel density has positive correlation with the expression of DcR3 protein in breast cancer(r=0.717, P=0.000). The expression of DcR3 mRNA in breast cancer tissues (3.988±3.706) was higher than that in nomal breast tissue((2.291±2.717,P=0.001). The expression of DcR3 mRNA was more higher in breast cancer with lymph node metastasis than that in breast cancer without lymph node metastasis (P=0.002). The expression of DcR3 protein has positive correlation with the expression of DcR3 mRNA(r=0.629,P =0.000) in breast cancer tissue.The mean of microlymphatic vessel density was positive correlated with the expression of DcR3 mRNA in breast cancer (r=0.698,P =0.003).[Conclusion] The expression of DcR3 increased in breast cancer, especially in breast cancer with lymph node metastasis. The expression of DcR3 was positive correlated with the microlymphatic vessel density ,which identified by immunohistochemical staining using monoclonal antibody against human podoplanin(clone D2-40), suggesting that the expression of DcR3 was positive correlated with lymphangiogenesis in breast cancer tissue.DcR3 may promote lymph node metastasis of breast cancer by inducing the formation of new lymphatic vessels to increase opportunities for lymph node metastasis.