All solid tumors require the induction of new blood vessel to grow. The neovascularization of tumor tissue(angiogenesis) is considered essential for tumor growth, proliferation and eventually metastasis. Recent reports have demonstrated that the
intensity of tumor angiogenesis in prostate and other tumors may be of prognostic value. We analyzed the prognostic significance of microvessel quentatlon in bladder carcinoma. Microvessels were identified by immunohistochemistry using antibodies
to
endothelial marker, factor VIII-related antigen. The three most vascular area wihtin a tumor were selected, and the microvessels within a ×200 microscopic field of each area were counted by an investigator. The significant relationship was
observed
between microvessel counts and recurrence rate in 17 patients with superficial bladder cancer. Microvessel counts correlated with stage, grade, lymph node and distant metastasis, and 2 year disease free survival rate in 28 patients with invasive
bladder
cancer. In 15 patients with invasive cancer who were not showed distant metastasis, tumors from patients who experienced distant meastasis had higher microvessel counts than did tumors from patients who were diseasefree(75.7517.78 and
61.7517.78),
these
values were not significantly different(p=0.081). These findings suggest that assessment of angiogenesis by microvessel quantitation may be a valuable method to predict meatastatic potential of tumors, survival and the candidates for adjuvant
therapy in
patients with invasive bladder cancer.
|