Lymphatic and blood vessels in male breast cancer

Abstract

Background: It is assumed that lymphatic vessels are responsible for breast cancer dissemination.

Patients and methods: In 32 male breast carcinomas we evaluated the correlation between: (i) lymphatic vessel density (LVD), distribution of podoplanin-immunostained vessels (DPV), blood vessel density (BVD), infiltration of immune cells and (ii) known clinicopathological parameters.

Results: Lymphatic and blood vessels were found in 77.8% and 100% of breast carcinomas, respectively. Double-negative estrogen and progesterone receptor tumors (ER-/PR-) presented significantly higher LVD than ER/PR positive cases, while high-grade tumors exhibited significantly higher DPV than low-grade carcinomas. We detected significantly higher frequency of vascular invasion in high-grade and double-negative carcinomas than in low-grade and ER/PR-positive ones, respectively.

Conclusion: The relationship between high number of lymphatic vessels and high tumor grade or steroid receptor negativity might confirm the hypothesis regarding the influence of lymphangiogenesis on the formation of a more aggressive phenotype in male breast cancer.

Keywords: CD34; Male breast cancer; blood vessels; lymphatic vessels; podoplanin.