Intratumoral lymphangiogenesis and prognostic significance of VEGFC expression in gastric cancer.

AIM: Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGFC) is thought to promote lymphangiogenesis in various human cancer tissues. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The present study analyzed data from 72 patients with gastric cancer. The lymphatic vessel density (LVD) was determined by immunohistochemical staining using a monoclonal antibody (mAb) against D2-40, and the expression of VEGFC was investigated using a mAb against VEGFC. RESULTS: The intratumoral LVD was higher in cases with nodal metastasis. The VEGFC-positive cases had a higher intratumoral LVD and were more invasive to the lymphatic vessels or lymph nodes than negative cases. Patients with VEGFC-positive cancer had significantly lower survival than those with negative cancer (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of VEGFC was related to intratumoral lymph angiogenesis and serves as a pertinent predictive factor for lymphatic invasion or metastasis, while also providing prognostic value.