Objective: To detect the role of Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) in the interaction of tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) with the peri-carcinoma lymphatics.
Methods: TSCC cells were implanted on the chorioallantoic membrane (CAM), in which, group A was transfected by plasmid pREP7 including VEGF-C, group B was transfected by plasmid pREP7, and group C was Tca8113. Lymphatic vessels were stained by 5'-Nase. Morphologic analysis was used to evaluate the alteration of lymphatic vessels density (LVD), area and perimeter.
Results: The transplanted tumor well on CAM. The expression of VEGF-C in group A was higher than that in control group B and C. The LVD, perimeter and area in group A were (5.3 +/- 0.41)/high-power field, (148 +/- 21) microm and (76.8 +/- 13.5) microm(2) respectively in group A, which were significantly higher than that of group B and C (P < 0.01), while there were no significant difference between group B and C.
Conclusions: CAM is ideal model for the research of lymphatic vessels; Over-expression of VEGF-C could induce the dilatation and LVD increase of peri-tumor lymphatic vessels, which maybe one of the mechanisms that VEGF-C metastasis of TSCC through lymphatic vessels.