Microvessel Density and Clinicopathologic Characteristics in Hepatocellular Carcinoma with and without Cirrhosis

Abstract

Angiogenesis is essential to the survival, growth, invasion, and metastasis of various human solid tumors. We compared the microvessel density (MVD) and clinicopathologic features of two different groups of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), namely HCC with cirrhosis (HCC-C) and without cirrhosis (HCC-NC). A tissue microarray composed of 20 normal livers, 20 cirrhotic livers, tumor and adjacent background non-neoplastic liver tissues from 20 HCC-C and 20 HCC-NC were constructed and stained immunohistochemically with antibodies against the antigen CD34. The MVD was determined by the measurement of the area and density of CD34 positive sinusoidal endothelial cells using the Image Pro Plus software. There was a trend of increased MVD in cirrhotic liver compared to normal liver and in cirrhotic background non-neoplastic liver adjacent to the tumor compared to the non-cirrhotic background non-neoplastic liver. Tumor tissue of HCC-C and HCC-NC both showed significantly higher MVD than their adjacent background non-neoplastic liver tissue. There was no statistical difference in MVD between HCC-C and HCC-NC. A higher value of MVD was seen in tumors of intermediate size (5–10 cm), high histologic grade, the presence of lymphvascular space invasion, and the underlying etiology of hepatitis C and alcoholic steatohepatitis. This data indicates that MVD may play an important role in liver carcinogenesis and neoplastic progression. The difference in clinical behavior between HCC-C and HCC-NC does not seem to be associated with differences in tumor MVD. Objective measurement of MVD using standardized computer software could potentially be used as a clinical marker to predict patients’ prognosis.

Microvessel density in hepatocellular carcinoma: Prognostic significance and review of the previous published work

“…The assessment of the MVD is greatly influenced by methodological factors, such as the selection of endothelial markers, tissue sampling sites, counting methods and number or characteristics of the patients included in the studies (Table ) . In our present study, we assessed the MVD using the most sensitive and specific endothelial marker in HCC, the anti‐CD34 antibody .…”

Impact of HuR inhibition by the small molecule MS-444 on colorectal cancer cell tumorigenesis

“…IHC was visualized using DAB peroxidase substrate kit (Dako) and counterstained with hematoxylin (Sigma-Aldrich). The area of tumor microvessels was quantitatively measured using the ImagePro Plus 4.5 software (Media Cybernetics) as previously described [ 66 ]. Tumor section images were imported into the ImagePro Plus software, where the CD31-positive staining was selected using the color selection function.…”

Tie2-Expressing Monocytes Are Associated with Identification and Prognoses of Hepatitis B Virus Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Resection

“…Paraffin embedded tumor blocks were cut (4μm sections) and mounted on adhesive slides. Vessels were detected by using immunohistochemistry with CD34 [ 13 ]. To determine the vascular area as a percentage of tumor area (vascular area/ tumor area), the stained sections were firstly screened microscopically at low power (X50) to find the areas of highest vascularization.…”