title: Expression and clinical significance of microvessel density and its association with TWIST in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is characterized by a high frequency of nodal and distant metastasis at diagnosis. Microvessel density (MVD) is an indicator for angiogenesis that has been shown to correlate with metastasis of cancers. Evidence regarding the roles of MVD in NPC has rarely been reported. Thus, we aimed to investigate the state of angiogenesis in NPC. CD34 and TWIST were detected in sixty-five NPC specimens by immunohistochemistry, respectively. Then, MVD and its association with clinical features as well as TWIST expression have been assessed. As a result, MVD was closely related to cancer progression as reflected by distant metastasis (P < 0.05), and nevertheless, the data failed to show its association with lymph node metastasis and other clinicophathological features (P > 0.05). Interestingly, a marked correlation between TWIST positive expression with increased MVD was observed. The results suggested that MVD might play important roles in the development of NPC and TWIST might promote cancer progression by facilitating angiogenesis. Further studies are needed to confirm the results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Chongqing Cancer Institute Chongqing, China ; Affiliated Hospital of Guiyang Medical College Guiyang, China.
authors.forename: Xianlu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhuo
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Hospital of Guiyang Medical College Guiyang, China.
authors.forename: Aoshuang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Chongqing Cancer Institute Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Chuang
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Affiliated Hospital of Guiyang Medical College Guiyang, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Zhaolan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Stomatology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University Chongqing, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhou
keywords: Nasoparyangeal carcinoma; TWIST; expression; inmmunohistochemistry; microvessel density