Gl. Bremer et al., TUMOR ANGIOGENESIS - AN INDEPENDENT PROGNOSTIC PARAMETER IN CERVICAL-CANCER, American journal of obstetrics and gynecology, 174(1), 1996, pp. 126-131
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the in
tensity of tumor angiogenesis, expressed as microvessel density, is a
parameter predicting the probability of lymph node metastasis and surv
ival in patients with cervical cancer stages IB and IIA. STUDY DESIGN:
In a retrospective study of 114 patients with cervical cancer stages
IB and IIA, microvessel density, lymph node status, and several other
prognostic parameters were correlated with disease-free survival by a
multivariate analysis according to Cox proportional-hazards model. RES
ULTS: There was a significant difference in mean microvessel density b
etween tumors with and without pelvic lymph node metastatis (p = 0.002
). Both microvessel density (vessels per square millimeter of stroma)
(p = 0.05) and pelvic lymph node metastasis (p = 0.007) correlated sig
nificantly and independently with disease-free survival. CONCLUSION: T
his study demonstrates that microvessel density is an independent prog
nostic parameter for disease-free survival in patients with cervical c
ancer stages Ib and IIa.