Lymphangiogenic and Angiogenic Microvessel Density in Chinese Patients with Gastric Carcinoma: Correlation with Clinicopathologic Parameters and Prognosis

Abstract

The incidence of gastric cancer worldwide, and in particular in developing countries, has shown a marked increase. Poor prognosis of gastric cancer patients occurs due to the rapid metastasis of the disease via the lymphatic and blood vessels. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression and the clinical significance of D2-40 and CD34 in human gastric cancer. D2-40 and CD34 expression wasdetected in 1,072 cases of Chinese patients with gastric carcinoma using immunohistochemistry. The lymphatic vessel density (LVD) and microvessel density (MVD) were calculated and analyzed and the correlation with the clinicopathological factors and prognosis was determined. The LVD and MVD of the gastric cancer cases were significantly higher compared to those of normal tissues (P < 0.05). The expression of D2-40-LVD and CD34-MVD in the malignancies were positively related to the age, tumor size, invasion depth, lymphatic metastasis and pathological tumor-node-metastasis (pTNM) (P < 0.05); However, no statistically significant difference was identified between them with the patient gender (P > 0.05). Up-regulation of D2-40 and CD34 expression was significantly correlated with the poor survival rate in univariate and multivariate analyses. The LVD marked by D2-40 and the MVD marked by CD34 were positively correlated to the clinicopathological factors of the malignancies and may play important role in the development and progression of gastric cancer.

Expression of Annexin A3 in Gastric Cancer and its Correlation with Proliferation and Apoptosis

“…In all clinicopathologic parameters, lymph node metastasis was the most independent factor as a prognostic biomarker (p=0.011) ( Table 2). In accordance with our results, previous study found TNM and lymph node metastasis are all independent prognostic factors affecting the survival of patients with gastric cancer (Cao et al, 2013).…”

The different role of intratumoral and peritumoral lymphangiogenesis in gastric cancer progression and prognosis

“…Lymphatic vessel density (LVD) is a quantitative measure of tumor lymphangiogenesis and is measured by directly counting lymphatic vessels. It has been reported that high LVD in gastric cancer correlates with regional lymph node metastasis and poor prognosis [ 9 – 11 ]. However, in these studies, the effect of lymphangiogenesis associated with intratumoral lymphatics or peritoumoral lymphatics was not evaluated.…”

Survival after Gastrectomy in Node-Negative Gastric Cancer: A Review and Meta-Analysis of Prognostic Factors

“…Growing evidence indicates that tumor lymphangiogenesis and angiogenesis play important roles in the progression of GC [ 34 ]. In addition, high lymphatic vessel density and microvessel density are shown to be correlated with a poor survival rate in human GC [ 35 ]. Therefore, other than lymphovascular invasion of tumor cells as an important prognostic factor in GC, targeting tumor-associated lymphangiogenesis and angiogenesis may also provide a novel therapeutic approach.…”