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Clinical significance of peritumoral lymphatic vessel density and lymphatic vessel invasion detected by D2-40 immunostaining in FIGO Ib1-IIa squamous cell cervical cancer

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Abstract

The clinical significance of lymphangiogenesis in cervical cancer remains controversial. Our aim was to investigate the correlation between lymphangiogenesis, lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) and tumor metastasis, invasion and prognosis in squamous cell cervical cancer. Paraffin sections of 90 patients with FIGO (Fédération Internationale de Gynécologie et d'Obstétrique) Ib1-IIa squamous cell cervical cancer were stained for immunohistochemistry with a D2-40 monoclonal antibody against the carcinoembryonic antigen M2A. The lymphatic vessel density (LVD) and LVI were measured, and their relationship with the clinicopathological data was analyzed. D2-40-positive lymphatic vessels were found in 75 of the 90 patients (83.3 %). All D2-40-positive vessels were located in peritumoral areas. The mean±SD of the peritumoral LVD was 10.08±4.16. The positive rate of LVI was 32.0 % (24/75). The recurrence rate of patients with LVD >10 (62.1 %, 18/29) was significantly higher than that of patients with LVD ≤10 (34.8 %, 16/46, P = 0.021). The 5-year recurrence-free survival rate of patients with LVD >10 (41.0 %) was significantly lower than that of patients with LVD ≤10 (67.0 %, P = 0.045). Univariate analysis showed that the peritumoral LVD (≤10 vs >10) was correlated with LVI (absent vs present, P = 0.016). The peritumoral LVD and LVI showed no correlation with age, FIGO stage, tumor size, tumor grade, depth of invasion, or pelvic lymph node metastasis (all: P > 0.05). Peritumoral lymphangiogenesis was correlated with the recurrence and recurrence-free survival in patients with squamous cell cervical cancer. Examination of peritumoral LVD in these patients might therefore help to estimate the risk of recurrence.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, People’s Republic of China

    Ying Xiong, Li-Ping Cao, Hui-Lan Rao, Mu-Yan Cai, Li-Zhi Liang & Ji-Hong Liu

  2. Department of Gynecology, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, People’s Republic of China

    Ying Xiong, Li-Ping Cao, Li-Zhi Liang & Ji-Hong Liu

  3. Department of Pathology, Cancer Center, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510060, People’s Republic of China

    Hui-Lan Rao & Mu-Yan Cai

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  1. Ying Xiong
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  2. Li-Ping Cao
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  3. Hui-Lan Rao
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  4. Mu-Yan Cai
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  5. Li-Zhi Liang
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  6. Ji-Hong Liu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ji-Hong Liu.

Additional information

X.Y. and L.J.H. designed the experiments. L.L.Z acquired the clinical data. C.L.P. conducted the experiments and searched for the references. X.Y., C.L.P., R.H.L., and C.M.Y. analyzed the data. X.Y. and L.J.H. wrote the manuscript.

This study was supported by the Sci-Tech Project Foundation of Guangdong Province (2007B060401071).

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Xiong, Y., Cao, LP., Rao, HL. et al. Clinical significance of peritumoral lymphatic vessel density and lymphatic vessel invasion detected by D2-40 immunostaining in FIGO Ib1-IIa squamous cell cervical cancer. Cell Tissue Res 348, 515–522 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-012-1384-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-012-1384-x

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