Angiogenesis in squamous cell carcinomas of canine skin: An immunohistochemical and quantitative analysis

In a number of recent papers, the intratumoral microvessel density (iMVD) h as been described as a promising new prognostic factor. In this study, the angiogenic rate was evaluated immunohistochemically for platelet endothelia l cell adhesion molecule (CD31) in 15 squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) of ca nine skin. Computer image analysis was used to measure the iMVD, which incr eased progressively from differentiation grade I to IV. The iMVD was consis tently and significantly greater in the poorly differentiated SCC cases. Th e correlation of angiogenesis data with differentiation grade of canine SCC s suggests that the iMVD value may provide an additional criterion for eval uating the intrinsic malignancy and growth potential of such tumours. (C) 2 001 Harcourt Publishers Ltd.