High density of peritumoral lymphatic vessels measured by D2-40/podoplanin and LYVE-1 expression in gastric cancer patients: an excellent prognostic indicator or a false friend?

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

One of the most important prognostic indicators in gastric cancer is the presence of metastases in lymph nodes. Even now, little is known about lymphangiogenesis in neoplastic tissue, and little is also known about the transmission of a neoplastic cell from the tumor mass into a lymphatic vessel.

METHODS:

This study examined the relationships between the density of lymphatic vessels (LVD) stained immunohistochemically with lymphatic vessel endothelial hyaluronan receptor-1 (LYVE-1) and D2-40 (podoplanin) antibodies, the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C/D, selected clinical and pathomorphological factors, and the 5-year overall survival of gastric cancer patients.

RESULTS:

Statistical analysis showed no impact of increased intratumoral or peritumoral LVD on gastric cancer patient survival, irrespective of the protein used to stain lymphatic vessels. Analysis showed that the probability of overall survival was decreased in the cases with enhanced VEGF-D immunoreactivity (P = 0.0045).

CONCLUSION:

The study showed that the studied markers cannot be used to determine the required extent of the surgical procedure, as they have no statistically significant correlation with the degree of progression of the cancer, the stage of the disease assessed according to the TNM 5th classification of malignant tumors, clinicopathological features, and patient survival. VEGF-D is the only marker that can be regarded as an unfavorable prognostic indicator for patients with advanced gastric cancer.

• Authors: Julia Rudno-Rudzinska, Wojciech Kielan, Zygmunt Grzebieniak, Piotr Dziegiel, Piotr Donizy, Grzegorz Mazur, Monika Knakiewicz, Ewelina Frejlich, Agnieszka Halon
• Journal: Gastric cancer : official journal of the International Gastric Cancer Association and the Japanese Gastric Cancer Association (Gastric Cancer) Vol. 16 Issue 4 Pg. 513-20 (Oct 2013) ISSN: 1436-3305 [Electronic] Japan
• PMID: 23238856 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived
• Antigens, Neoplasm
• Biomarkers, Tumor
• LYVE1 protein, human
• Membrane Glycoproteins
• PDPN protein, human
• VEGFC protein, human
• VEGFD protein, human
• Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C
• Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor D
• Vesicular Transport Proteins
• monoclonal antibody D2-40
• oncofetal antigens

Topics

• Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived (metabolism)
• Antigens, Neoplasm
• Biomarkers, Tumor (metabolism)
• Disease Progression
• Female
• Follow-Up Studies
• Humans
• Immunoenzyme Techniques
• Lymphatic Metastasis
• Lymphatic Vessels (metabolism, pathology)
• Male
• Membrane Glycoproteins (metabolism)
• Middle Aged
• Neoplasm Grading
• Neoplasm Invasiveness
• Neoplasm Staging
• Prognosis
• Stomach Neoplasms (metabolism, mortality, pathology)
• Survival Rate
• Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C (metabolism)
• Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor D (metabolism)
• Vesicular Transport Proteins (metabolism)