title: Vascular endothelial growth factor-C expression in human prostatic carcinoma and its relationship to lymph node metastasis.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsurusaki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sakai
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kanetake
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Alitalo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koji
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D042582:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C