Prognostic significance of tumor angiogenesis in epithelial ovarian cancer

Since angiogenesis is considered essential for tumor growth and the develop ment of metastasis, we assessed the correlation of microvessel density (MVD ) with overall survival in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. Histolo gic slides were immunostained for CD34-antigen. MVD was determined within e ach tumor by enumeration under a light microscope at 200x magnification and an examination area of 0.25 mm(2), The Cox proportional-hazards model was used for multivariate analysis. In 63 patients with epithelial ovarian canc er the 5-year survival rate (OS-%) was as follows: 55.0% (+/-12.5) in 18 pa tients whose tumors had an MVD < 10/field, and 23.6% (+/-6.7) in 45 patient s whose tumors had an MVD(10/field (log-rank P = 0.038). MVD showed a signi ficant influence on survival in univariate analysis, but failed to attain a significant Value after adjustment for established prognostic parameters s uch as patients' age at diagnosis, stage of disease, and histologic grading . High MVD was significantly associated with advanced patients' age at diag nosis. This and a considerable heterogenity in the vascular architecture of ovarian carcinoma tissue might be the reasons why MVD did not reveal progn ostic significance in multivariate analysis. In contrast to a variety of so lid neoplasms, MVD does not seem to be a useful predictor of survival in pa tients with epithelial ovarian cancer. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ireland Lt d. All rights reserved.