Xm. Che et al., ANGIOGENESIS AS AN UNFAVORABLE FACTOR-RELATED TO LYMPH-NODE METASTASIS IN EARLY GASTRIC-CANCER, Annals of surgical oncology, 5(7), 1998, pp. 585-589
Background: Recent studies suggest that angiogenesis enhances tumor gr
owth and metastasis. Lymph node metastasis influences the prognosis an
d selection of treatment modalities in cancers. In this study, the aut
hors investigated the correlation between angiogenesis and clinicopath
ologic features to determine whether angiogenesis correlated with lymp
h node metastasis in early-stage gastric cancer. Methods: A total of 9
7 specimens from patients with early gastric cancer were studied by im
munohistochemical methods using anti-Factor VIII-related antigen antib
ody. Results: Tumor size was significantly correlated with microvessel
count, which increased as tumor size increased. Microvessel counts fr
om tumors with lymphatic vessel invasion, lymph node metastasis, and s
ubmucosal invasion were significantly higher than those without. Furth
ermore, microvessel count was an independent factor that influenced ly
mph node metastasis (P = .0016) by multivariate logistic regression an
alysis. Conclusion: In the early stage of gastric carcinoma, angiogene
sis is an independent factor that impacts on lymph node metastasis.