PROGNOSTIC-SIGNIFICANCE OF ANGIOGENESIS IN CLINICALLY LOCALIZED PROSTATE-CANCER (STAINING FOR FACTOR VIII-RELATED ANTIGEN AND CD34 ANTIGEN)

Tumour angiogenesis is widely considered to be an important phenomenon in the process of tumour growth and metastasis. We investigated the p rognostic significance of the microvascular count (MVC) in prostate ca ncer of each Gleason grade and compared the results to other establish ed pathologic parameters and progression probability. We also compared the staining of Factor VIII-related antigen (FVIII-RA) with CD34 anti gen (CD34 Ag) staining for determination of the MVC. We examined 101 r adical prostatectomy specimens from patients who underwent curative th erapy for clinically localized adenocarcinoma of the prostate as the f irst form of therapy. To identify microvessels, immunohistochemical st aining of endothelial cells was performed using antibodies to FVIII-RA and CD34 Ag in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue. Microvessels were counted in five x 200 fields (0.785 mm(2) on each Gleason grade in the 'hot' areas. We used the highest number of five fields in the w orst Gleason grade on each staining for statistical analysis. MVC usin g FVIII-RA and CD34 Ag staining correlated with pathologic stage, Glea son score and preoperative serum prostate-specific antigen level. In a ddition, MVC using CD34 Ag staining also correlated with DNA ploidy an d total tumour volume. The Gleason score was found to be the best prog nostic indicator using Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. I n this study, MVC in prostate cancer was predictive of pathologic stag e and Gleason grade, but MVC by either FVIII-RA and CD34 Ag staining w as not an independent prognostic predictor. The best prognostic indica tor in this study was Gleason score.