Clinical and biological significance of angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in colorectal cancer.
BACKGROUND
Angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis are essential for tumour development and progression. However, in colorectal cancer (CRC), the relationship between angiogenesis and clinical outcome is controversial, and the prognostic significance of lymphangiogenesis is not well examined because of the lack of specific a marker for lymphatic vessels.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate blood microvessel density (MVD) following the proposed standard method for MVD assessment given by the first international consensus and lymphatic vessel density (LVD), and investigate their clinicopathologic and biologic significance in CRC.


METHODS
MVD and LVD in primary tumours (n=210), along with their corresponding adjacent normal mucosa (n=105) and distant normal mucosa (n=27) specimens, were immunohistochemically examined by using CD31 and D2-40 antibodies.


RESULTS
Both MVD and LVD were higher in tumour compared with the corresponding normal mucosa. In tumours, MVD was positively related to particular interesting new cysteine-histidine-rich protein (PINCH) expression (P=0.006), but not with clinicopathologic variables. LVD, in both intratumoural and peritumoural areas of tumours, was reversely related to Dukes' stage. There was no association between MVD or LVD and patients' survival (P>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis occurred in CRC development, but were not related to CRC patient prognosis. PINCH may play a potential role in tumour angiogenesis.
Gao
J
J
Department of Oncology, Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, SE-581 85 Linköping, Sweden. jinga@ibk.liu.se
Knutsen
A
A
Arbman
G
G
Carstensen
J
J
Frånlund
B
B
Sun
X F
XF
D000368:Aged; D003106:Colon / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D042583:Lymphangiogenesis; D042601:Lymphatic Vessels / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D055806:Microvessels / Q000378:metabolism*; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D011379:Prognosis; D012007:Rectum / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology