The Expression Of Microvessel Density In Colorectal And Its Prognostic Significance

Growth and metastasis of malignant tumor depends on angiogenesis. Vessel of tumor is the morphology foundation for growth and metastasis of malignant tumor. The vessel of tumor not only provides tumor with nutrients, but also it delivers tumor cells to other place in human body. The role of angiogenesis in the malignant tumor has been studied both at a preclinical and a clinical level. It is clear from these study that tumor can produce both positive and negative regulators to promote or inhibit the angiogenesis of the tumor.Tumor angiogenesis has proved to be a useful prognostic determinant for patients with various solid tumors. Colorectal cancer is one of the common malignant tumor and it threatens health and life of human. Colorectal cancer has the same general character as other solid cancer. The realization of angiogenesis of the colorectal cancer will help us to understand the mechanisms of oncogenesis and progression of the tumors.In this study, we investigated the quantitative expression of angiogenesis in colorectal carcinoma to determine how angiogenesis correlates with clinicopathologic factors and prognosis. Tumor specimens resected from patients with primary colorectal carcinoma were investigated immunohistochemically using a polyclonal antibody CD34, and areas with the highest vascular density at the invasive tumor margin were counted at 200 times magnification. The microvessel count, defined as microvessel density (MVD), became significantly higher with increase in Dukes stage (p<0. 001). MVD was also significantly higher in patients with lymph node and liver metastasis (p<0.05) than in those without. And therecurrence and metastasis in patients of Dukes B and C was related with the level of MVD. In addition, the analysis demonstrated that the tumor-free survival and the 5-year survival rate in patients of lower MVD was better than that of those with higher MVD expression by Dukes B and C . Quantitative evaluation of tumor angiogenesis is suggested to be a good prognostic indicator and a useful predictor for recurrence and survival in patients with colorectal carcinoma.