Volume 17, Number 4, December 2005
| | Relationship between Cervical Lymph Node Metastasis, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-C Expression, and Other Clinical Parameters in Early-stage Cancer of the Tongue |
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Hao Zou,1 Wen-Feng Zhang,1 Tong-Tong Lu,2 Xin-Ming Chen,3 Yi-Fang Zhao1
1Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, 2Key Laboratory of Oral Biomedical Engineering, and 3Department of Pathology, School and Hospital of Stomatology, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China
Abstract
Objective: To assess the value of various clinicopathological parameters in predicting cervical lymph node metastasis in early stage (T1/T2) tongue cancer.
Patients and Methods: Resection specimens were collected from patients with early-stage tongue cancer who underwent neck dissection and partial glossectomy. Vascular endothelial growth factor-C immunohistochemical staining of the tumour and cytokeratin AE1/AE3 staining of the lymph node specimens were performed. Invasive tumour depth was measured by micro-ocular micrometer. The correlation between cervical lymph node metastasis and various clinicopathological parameters was analysed by Fisher's exact test and binary logistic regression.
Results: Of the 54 patients, 27 (50%) showed high vascular endothelial growth factor-C expression and 27 (50%) showed low vascular endothelial growth factor-C expression. Twenty two patients (40.7%) exhibited cervical lymph node metastasis. The tumour invasive depth ranged from 1.0 mm to 11.0 mm (mean, 5.2 mm). Univariate logistic regression indicated that cervical lymph node metastasis was related to pathological grade, vascular endothelial growth factor-C expression, and tumour invasive depth in early-stage tongue cancer, whereas multivariate logistic regression indicated that cervical lymph node metastasis was related only to vascular endothelial growth factor-C expression and tumour invasive depth.
Conclusions: Vascular endothelial growth factor-C expression and tumour invasive depth are valuable tests for evaluation of cervical lymph node metastasis in early-stage tongue cancer.
Key words: Neoplasm metastasis, Tongue neoplasm, Vascular endothelial growth factor C
Asian J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2005;17:223-229.
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