Correlation Of Hepatocyte Growth Factor With Microvessel Density In Esophageal Squamous-cell Carcinoma And Its Clinical Significance

Objective To investigate the role and significance of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in the process of proliferation, progression, metastasis and tumor angiogenesis of esophageal squamous-cell carcinoma (ESCC) by detecting the expression of HGF and CD34 in both tumor epithelium and normal esophageal epithelium and to investigate the relationship between their expression and the clinicopathological factors.Methods The expression of HGF and CD34 in 64 specimens of ESCC and 20 cases of adjacent normal tissues were detected using immunohistochemmistry (IHC) method. The microvessel density (MVD) was calculated. The relationship between expression of HGF and the clinicopathological factors and the microvessel density was analyzed.Results 1 The expression of HGF in ESCC and normal esophageal tissues. Positive rate of HGF expression in ESCC tissues was 76.6%, in normal esophageal tissues was 15.0%. The expression of HGF in tumor tissues was statistically higher than that of adjacent normal tissues (P<0.05).2 The relationship between expression of HGF and the clinicopathological factors. Positive rate of HGF expression in tumors with lengths 5cm was 62.9%, in tumors with length>5cm was 93.1%; Positive rate of HGF expression in well differentiated tumors was 63.6%, in poorly differentiated tumors was 90.3%; Positive rate of HGF expression in tumors without lymph node metastasis was 66.7%, in tumors with lymph node metastasis was 92.0%; Positive rate of HGF expression in tumors in T2 stage was 60.0%, in tumors in T3 stage was 84.1%. The expression of HGF was statistically correlated with tumor length, histological grade, lymph node metastasis and T stage(P<0.05), but had little relationship with patients'age (P>0.05).3 The MVD in ESCC and normal esophageal tissues. The MVD in ESCC tissues was(38.87±17.55)/mm2, in adjacent normal tissues was (15.10±3.76)/mm2. The MVD value in tumor tissues was statistically higher than that of adjacent normal tissues (P<0.05).4 The relationship between MVD and the clinicopathological factors. The mean value of MVD in tumors with length≤5cm was (31.23±11.01)/mm2, in tumors with length>5cm was (48.10±19.61)lmm2; in tumors without lymph node metastasis was (32.30±13.56)/mm2, in tumors with lymph node metastasis was (49.12±18.37)/mm2; in tumors in T2 stage was (24.25±9.05)/mm2, in tumors in T3 stage was (45.52±16.44)/mm2 The expression of microvessel was statistically correlated with tumor length, lymph node metastasis and T stage (P< 0.05), but had little relationship with age and histological grade(P>0.05).5 The relationship between expression of HGF and MVD. The mean value of MVD in cases with positive HGF expression was (42.25±16.50)/mm2,and was significantly higher than that of negative HGF cases which was (27.89±16.83)/mm2(P<0.05). There was a significant correlation between value of MVD and expression of HGF.Conclusions 1 HGF promotes tumor cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis, correlates with the malignant biological behaviour and the prognosis of ESCC.2 Tumor angiogenesis promotes tumor cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis, correlates with the malignant biological behaviour and the prognosis of ESCC.3 HGF promotes tumor angiogenesis of ESCC, and may become a potential target in biological treatment of ESCC.