Vascular endothelial growth factor-C expression in human prostatic carcinoma and its relationship to lymph node metastasis.
Lymph node dissemination is a major prognostic factor in human cancer. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying lymph node metastasis are poorly understood. Recently, vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) was identified as a ligand for VEGF receptor-3 (VEGFR-3/Flt-4) and the expression of VEGFR-3 was found to be highly restricted to the lymphatic endothelial cells. In this report, we investigated the expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 in human prostatic carcinoma tissue by using in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical staining respectively. Expression of VEGF-C mRNA in prostatic carcinoma was significantly higher in lymph node-positive group than in lymph node-negative group. In addition, the number of VEGFR-3-positive vessels was increased in stroma surrounding VEGF-C-positive prostatic carcinoma cells. These results suggest that the expression of VEGF-C in prostatic carcinoma cells is implicated in the lymph node metastasis.
Tsurusaki
T
T
Department of Urology, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
Kanda
S
S
Sakai
H
H
Kanetake
H
H
Saito
Y
Y
Alitalo
K
K
Koji
T
T
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D006801:Humans; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D042582:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C
D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D042582:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C