title: Correlation between lymphatic vessel density and regional metastasis in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between lymphatic vessel density in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue and regional metastasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Intratumoral and peritumoral lymphatic densities (ILDs and PLDs, respectively) were determined by immunohistochemical staining of lymphatic endothelial cells with podoplanin in 62 patients surgically treated for tongue cancer. Clinicopathological variables were quantified, and their correlations with regional metastasis were assessed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The rate of regional metastasis was significantly higher in patients with high ILD than that in those with low ILD (21/33, 63.6% vs 8/29, 27.5%; p = .006). Perineural invasion and lymphovascular invasion were also significantly correlated with regional metastasis. By multivariate analyses, ILD was the only variable identified to be significantly correlated with regional metastasis (p = .009). On the other hand, PLD showed no correlation with regional metastasis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ILD showed a strong correlation with regional metastasis in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue.
authors: Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors: Man Ki
authors: MK
authors: Chung
authors: Jin-Young
authors: JY
authors: Min
authors: Yoon Kyoung
authors: YK
authors: So
authors: Young-Hyeh
authors: YH
authors: Ko
authors: Han-Sin
authors: HS
authors: Jeong
authors: Young-Ik
authors: YI
authors: Son
authors: Chung-Hwan
authors: CH
authors: Baek
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001707:Biopsy, Needle; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary* / Q000601:surgery; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D042601:Lymphatic Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011336:Probability; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D055815:Young Adult