Tumor angiogenesis is associated with progression after radical prostatectomy in pT2/pT3 prostate cancer

BACKGROUND. The clinical relevance of tumor angiogenesis has been investiga ted in several human tumor types. Angiogenesis (measured as microvessel den sity; MVD) was recently correlated with tumor stage, grade, and clinical co urse in prostate cancer (PC). However, considerable controversy remains con cerning the prognostic value of angiogenesis in PC. METHODS. We examined MVD in primary PCs to further establish the prognostic relevance of angiogenesis in this tumor entity. In 98 paraffin-embedded PC s of various stages, 5 prostate adenomas, and 20 normal prostate tissues, M VD was determined immunohistochemically using a polyclonal antibody against factor Vm. The findings were correlated with the clinical data of the pati ents. RESULTS. Normal prostate tissue and prostate adenomas had a low MVD. In PC, MVD increased significantly with tumor stage and grade (P < 0.001). The Wi lcoxon rank statistics showed significant differences for MVD (P < 0.0001), tumor stage (P < 0.0027), and grade (P < 0.0001), but not for preoperative prostate-specific antigen values in PC patients with and without tumor pro gression subsequent to treatment, respectively. Importantly, multivariate s urvival analysis revealed that MVD and tumor grade were the only independen t markers for progression in prostate carcinoma. CONCLUSIONS. In this study, tumor angiogenesis measured by MVD was associat ed with a dismal pathologic appearance and a negative clinical prognosis in PC after radical prostatectomy. Prostate 42:26-33, 2000. (C) 2000 Wiley-Li ss, Inc.