title: Vascular patterns provide therapeutic targets in aggressive neuroblastic tumors.
abstract: Angiogenesis is essential for tumor growth and metastasis, nevertheless, in NB, results between different studies on angiogenesis have yielded contradictory results. An image analysis tool was developed to characterize the density, size and shape of total blood vessels and vascular segments in 458 primary neuroblastic tumors contained in tissue microarrays. The results were correlated with clinical and biological features of known prognostic value and with risk of progression to establish histological vascular patterns associated with different degrees of malignancy. Total blood vessels were larger, more abundant and more irregularly-shaped in tumors of patients with associated poor prognostic factors than in the favorable cohort. Tumor capillaries were less abundant and sinusoids more abundant in the patient cohort with unfavorable prognostic factors. Additionally, size of post-capillaries & metarterioles as well as higher sinusoid density can be included as predictive factors for survival. These patterns may therefore help to provide more accurate pre-treatment risk stratification, and could provide candidate targets for novel therapies.
authors.affiliation: Pathology Department, Medical School, University of Valencia, INCLIVA, 46010 Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tadeo
authors.affiliation: VISILAB, E.T.S. Ingenieros Industriales, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: Gloria
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bueno
authors.affiliation: Pathology Department, Medical School, University of Valencia, INCLIVA, 46010 Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Berbegall
authors.affiliation: VISILAB, E.T.S. Ingenieros Industriales, University of Castilla-La Mancha, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain.
authors.forename: M Milagro
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Fernández-Carrobles
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Unit, University and Polytechnic Hospital La Fe, 46026 Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Castel
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Hospital de Jerez de la Frontera, 11407 Jerez de la Frontera, Cádiz, Spain.
authors.forename: Marcial
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: García-Rojo
authors.affiliation: Pathology Department, Medical School, University of Valencia, INCLIVA, 46010 Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Samuel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.affiliation: Pathology Department, Medical School, University of Valencia, INCLIVA, 46010 Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Noguera
mesh_terms: D002196:Capillaries / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000473:pathology*; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: blood vessels; capillaries; extracellular matrix; neuroblastoma; sinusoids