Lymphatic vessel density in vocal cord carcinomas assessed with LYVE-1 receptor expression.
OBJECTIVE
Early stage vocal cord carcinomas are usually cured by radiation therapy despite the use of portals that exclude the cervical lymph nodes. We investigated whether the lymphatic vessel density (LVD) of vocal cord carcinomas differs from that of other head and neck carcinomas.


METHODS
Deparaffinized tissue from tumors of 60 patients diagnosed with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) were immunostained for LYVE-1, a novel lymphatic vessel marker. Twenty-two had vocal cord carcinoma. Tumor blood vessel density (BVD) was assessed using immunostaining for CD31.


RESULTS
Tumor overall LVD, including both intra- and peritumoral lymph vessels, was 10-fold lower than the BVD (5 counts/mm2 vs. 52 mm(-2), respectively). A high LVD was associated with a high BVD (P = .002), but neither was associated with the tumor size. Both tumor LVD and BVD were lower in vocal cord carcinomas than in HNSCCs arising at other sites (median, 0 vs. 7 mm(-2), P=.016; and median, 36 vs. 52 mm(-2), P = .006, respectively). Only one vocal cord carcinoma was associated with a regional metastasis at the time of the diagnosis. Among the rest of the cases tumor size was a better predictor for the presence of regional metastases than tumor BVD or LVD in a logistic regression model (odds ratio 2.2, 95% CI 1.1-4.5).


CONCLUSIONS
Vocal cord carcinomas have a low lymph vessel density as compared with HNSCCs arising at other sites.
Koskinen
Walter J
WJ
Department of Virology, Haartman Institute, University of Helsinki, Finland. walter.koskinen@helsinki.fi
Bono
Petri
P
Leivo
Ilmo
I
Vaheri
Antti
A
Aaltonen
Leena-Maija
LM
Joensuu
Heikki
H
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D042601:Lymphatic Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D015996:Survival Rate; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins; D014827:Vocal Cords / Q000473:pathology*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D006023:Glycoproteins; C119248:LYVE1 protein, human; D033921:Vesicular Transport Proteins