Abstract:

Objective To study the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-C（VEGF-C） in oral squamous cell carcinoma（OSCC） and its relation to angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, as well as lymph node metastasis. Methods Sixty-seven archival specimens from patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma were investigated, whose clinicopathologic data were completely conserved. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to detect the expression of VEGF-C, microvessel density（MVD）, lymphatic vessel density（LVD）. The correlations between VEGF-C expression and MVD, LVD, as well as other clinicopathological features were measured. Results Although no correlation between VEGF-C expression and tumor location, histological grade, or gender of the patients was observed（P>0.05）, OSCC patients with more advanced clinical stages and lymph node metastasis were prone to have high expression of VEGF-C（P=0.015 and P<0.001, respectively）. Cases with high-expression of VEGF-C also showed significantly more often higher LVD（P=0.001） but not MVD（P=0.125）. In addition, cases with lymph node involvement presented higher LVD than other cases（P=0.026）. Conclusion VEGF-C may promote lymph node metastasis by inducing lymphangiogenesis in OSCC.

Key words: oral squamous cell carcinoma, vascular endothelial growth factor -C, micro vessel density, lymphatic vessel density