The Expression And Significance Of SOX18,Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C(VEGF-C)and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor3(VEGFR-3) In Gastric Carcinoma

Objective:To investigate the expression of SOX18, vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) and its receptor VEGFR-3in gastric carcinoma and the correlation between expression of them and the clinicopathological features, and explore the relevance among them.Methods:We collecterd60cases of primary gastric carcinoma specimens with complete clinicopathological information which diagnosed between Jan2011and Dec2011from Department of Pathology, Affiliated Heji Hospital, Changzhi Medical College. Tumor slides stained with hematoxylin and eosin (FIE) were reviewed, according to the WHO(2004)pathological classification and UICC the TNM staging unified pathological grade and clinical stage. We also selected15cases of normal gastric mucosa specimens from nonneoplastic epithelia of gastric carcinoma as the control. S-P immunohistochemistry was used to detected the expression of SOX18, VEGF-C and VEGFR-3. The relationship between the expression of them and clinicopathological features was analyzed by chi-squared test (χ2). Spearman’s correlation analysis was hired to analyze the correlation of the expression of SOX18, VEGF-C and VEGFR-3protein in gastric carcinoma.Results:The positive percentage of SOX18, VEGF-C and VEGFR-3protein in gastric cancer was76.7%(46/60),71.7%(43/60),66.7%(40/60), respectively, which was significantly higher than that in normal gastric mucosa tissues30.0%,20.0%and13.3%(P<0.05). The expression of SOX18and VEGF-C was significantly related with infiltration depth, lymph node metastasis and TNM stage (P<0.05), but not with the patient’s age, gender and differentiation grade (P>0.05). The expression of VEGFR-3was significantly related with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage (.P<0.05), but not with the patient’s age, gender, infiltration depth and differentiation grade (P>0.05). The Spearman’s relevant analysis indicated that the expression of the SOX18had significantly positive correlations with that of the VEGF-C (r=0.372, P=0.002) and VEGFR-3(r=0.308,P=0.011) in gastric carcinoma, and there was significantly positive correlation between expression of VEGF-C and that of VEGFR-3in gastric carcinoma (r=0.333, P=0.005).Conclusion:The expression of SOX18, VEGF-C and VEGFR-3is higher in gastric carcinoma than normal gastric mucosa tissues, the expression of SOX18protein had significantly positive correlations with that of the VEGF-C and VEGFR-3in gastric carcinoma. SOX18, VEGF-C and VEGFR-3may play an important role in the generation, development and lymph node metastasis of gastric carcinoma. SOX18may mediated lymphangiogenesis through regulation the expression of VEGF-C, thereby promoting the lymph node metastasis of gastric carcinoma. The combined detection of SOX18, VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 expression has important value to judge the invasion and metastasis of gastric carcinoma.