Koyama Yu, Kaneko Kouji, Akazawa Kohei, Kanbayashi Chizuko, Kanda Tatsuo, Hatakeyama Katsuyoshi
Division of Digestive & General Surgery, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical & Dental Sciences, 1-757 Asahimachi-dori, Niigata 951-8510, Japan.
Clin Breast Cancer. 2003 Dec;4(5):354-60. doi: 10.3816/cbc.2003.n.041.
Lymph node metastasis is a major prognostic factor for patients with breast cancer. Vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF)-C and VEGF-D are capable of stimulating lymphangiogenesis, and VEGF-C enhances lymphatic metastasis. The aim of the present study was to determine whether VEGF-C and VEGF-D messenger RNA (mRNA) expression is correlated with lymphatic invasion and lymph node metastasis in patients with breast cancer. Total RNAs were isolated from 33 surgical specimens of breast cancer tissue and 7 samples of normal breast tissue. VEGF-C and VEGF-D mRNA expression was measured by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction analysis. There was no correlation between VEGF-C mRNA expression and lymphatic invasion or lymph node metastasis. However, VEGF-D mRNA expression was decreased in cancer tissue, and it was inversely correlated with lymphatic invasion and the number of metastatic lymph nodes. An increased VEGF-C/VEGF-D ratio was also correlated with lymph node metastasis and the number of metastatic lymph nodes. Our results suggest that a decrease in VEGF-D mRNA or an increase in the VEGF-C/VEGF-D ratio may have an association with tumorigenesis and/or lymph node metastasis in breast cancer.
淋巴结转移是乳腺癌患者的一个主要预后因素。血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）-C和VEGF-D能够刺激淋巴管生成，且VEGF-C可促进淋巴转移。本研究的目的是确定VEGF-C和VEGF-D信使核糖核酸（mRNA）表达是否与乳腺癌患者的淋巴管侵犯及淋巴结转移相关。从33例乳腺癌组织手术标本和7例正常乳腺组织样本中分离出总RNA。通过定量逆转录-聚合酶链反应分析测定VEGF-C和VEGF-D mRNA表达。VEGF-C mRNA表达与淋巴管侵犯或淋巴结转移之间无相关性。然而，癌组织中VEGF-D mRNA表达降低，且其与淋巴管侵犯及转移淋巴结数量呈负相关。VEGF-C/VEGF-D比值升高也与淋巴结转移及转移淋巴结数量相关。我们的结果表明，VEGF-D mRNA降低或VEGF-C/VEGF-D比值升高可能与乳腺癌的肿瘤发生和/或淋巴结转移有关。
