Kyzas Panayiotis A, Agnantis Niki J, Stefanou Dimitrios
Department of Pathology, University of Ioannina Medical School, 45110 Ioannina, Greece.
Virchows Arch. 2006 Jun;448(6):768-75. doi: 10.1007/s00428-006-0195-4. Epub 2006 Apr 13.
Endoglin (CD105) is a proliferation-associated protein abundantly expressed in angiogenic endothelial cells. Recent studies revealed that CD105 is intensively expressed in tumor vasculature, whereas intratumoral microvessel density (MVD) determined with the use of antibodies to CD105 has been found to be an important prognostic indicator for the outcome in a number of malignancies. In the current study, we investigated endoglin expression and evaluated MVD in 108 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Endoglin was intensively expressed in intratumoral blood vessels, whilst lymphatics were rarely positive for CD105. High microvessel density was associated with a more aggressive tumor phenotype, including advanced clinical stage (p = 0.008) and the presence of lymph node metastasis at the time of diagnosis (p = 0.02). When microvessel counts were assessed for their prognostic values (high vs low MVD), there was a statistically significant difference in the overall survival among patients with tumors of the oral cavity and larynx (p < 0.001) and in the disease-free survival among patients with tumors of the lower lip (p = 0.01). The prognostic impact of microvessel density was not dependent on clinical stage or lymph node status. The results of the current study suggest that CD105 is a promising target for tumor imaging and prognosis.
内皮糖蛋白（CD105）是一种在血管生成的内皮细胞中大量表达的增殖相关蛋白。最近的研究表明，CD105在肿瘤血管中高表达，而使用抗CD105抗体测定的肿瘤内微血管密度（MVD）已被发现是多种恶性肿瘤预后的重要指标。在本研究中，我们调查了108例头颈部鳞状细胞癌患者的内皮糖蛋白表达情况并评估了MVD。内皮糖蛋白在肿瘤内血管中高表达，而淋巴管很少呈CD105阳性。高微血管密度与更具侵袭性的肿瘤表型相关，包括临床晚期（p = 0.008）和诊断时存在淋巴结转移（p = 0.02）。当评估微血管计数的预后价值（高MVD与低MVD）时，口腔和喉肿瘤患者的总生存率（p < 0.001）以及下唇肿瘤患者的无病生存率（p = 0.01）存在统计学显著差异。微血管密度的预后影响不依赖于临床分期或淋巴结状态。本研究结果表明，CD105是肿瘤成像和预后的一个有前景的靶点。
