血管内皮生长因子D及其受体flt-4在肝癌中的表达及意义

目的探讨肝细胞肝癌(HCC)中血管内皮生长因子D(VEGF-D)及其受体flt-4的表达以及与肝癌临床病理特征如淋巴结转移之间的关系。方法应用免疫组织化学染色法检测48例HCC、28例癌旁组织及12例正常肝组织中VEGF-D的表达及flt-4阳性淋巴管的计数,分析VEGF-D的表达与肝癌临床病理特征的关系。结果HCC中VEGF-D的表达显著高于癌旁和正常肝组织,分别为75.0%(36/48),50.0%(14/28)和41.7%(5/12)(P<0.01);VEGF-D的表达与肝癌淋巴结转移和临床分期呈正相关(P<0.05);VEGF-D及flt-4在有肝门淋巴结转移组中的表达明显高于无淋巴转移组(P<0.05);VEGF-D及其受体flt-4在肝癌组织中的表达具有明显的相关性(P<0.05)。结论VEGF-D及其受体flt-4在肝癌组织中呈高表达,并与肝癌的淋巴结转移密切相关。

Expression of vascular endothelial growth factor D and its receptor flt-4 in hepatocellular carcinoma

Objective To study the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor D(VEGF-D) and its receptor flt-4 in hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) tissue and to determine whether the expressions of VEGF-D and flt-4 were associated with clinical pathologic characters.Methods The expressions of VEGF-D and flt-4 proteins were examined by immunohistochemistry in 48 HCC tissues and 28 adjancent tumor tissues and 12 normal tissues,and the correlation between VEGF-D expression and clinical pathologic character was analyzed.Results Imunohistochemical analysis revealed that expression of VEGF-D was higher in HCC tissue than that of adjancent tumor tissues and normal tissues,respectively 75.0%(36/48),50.0%(14/28) and 41.7%(5/12)(P<0.01).The expression of VEGF-D was associated with lymph node metastasis and clinical stage(P<0.05).The expressions of VEGF-D and flt-4 in lymphatic metastasis group were higher than those of no lymphatic metastasis group(P<0.05) and there was a distinct relativity between the expression of VEGF-D and expression of flt-4 in HCC.Conclusion VEGF-D and flt-4 are commonly overexpressed in HCC and may contribute to lymph node metastasis.