Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and its receptor, VEGFR-3, have been implicated as important factors in the formation of lymphatic vessels and recent evidence suggests that tumor lymphangiogenesis promotes lymphatic metastasis.
Methods: The expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 was examined in 22 human prostate cancer specimens with immunohistochemistry. A semi-quantitative scoring system was used for evaluation of staining.
Results: Expression of VEGF-C was stronger in prostate cancer areas in comparison to adjacent benign glands. In addition, patients with lymph node metastases had a significantly higher expression of VEGF-C than patients without lymph node metastases. Interestingly, VEGFR-3 was expressed in malignant prostate epithelial cells and its expression was significantly higher in the lymph node positive group compared to the lymph node negative group.
Conclusions: The results of the present study indicate that increased expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 play a role in prostate cancer progression and in metastasis to regional lymph nodes.
Copyright 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.