title: Prognostic significance of vessel architecture and vascular stability in non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: To evaluate characteristics and prognostic impact of different structure types of intratumoural blood vessels, tissue samples of 72 patients with primary stages I and II non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) were analysed. Performing immunohistochemistry, 45 of 56 analysed tumours (80%) demonstrated an obvious alveolar vascular pattern with tight coverage with perivascular cells in at least parts of the sample. After an overall median follow-up of 139 months for surviving patients, tumours with an alveolar vascular pattern showed a significantly better overall survival (OS) compared to those with an entirely angiogenic vascular pattern (108 months versus 63 months; p<0.05). Furthermore, high expression of angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) correlated with OS (p<0.05). In contrast, expression of Ang-2 or vascular endothelial growth factor was not significantly associated with survival. Collectively, alveolar vessel architecture and angiopoietin expression appear to be common phenomenons in early stage NSCLC and may serve as prognostic factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine/Hematology and Oncology, University of Muenster, Muenster, Germany. niels.reinmuth@thoraxklinik-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Reinmuth
authors.forename: Elisabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Piegelbrock
authors.forename: Miriam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Raedel
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fehrmann
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hintelmann
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Wolfgang E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Berdel
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Lutz
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Freitag
authors.forename: Rolf M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Mesters
mesh_terms: D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011652:Pulmonary Circulation