Purpose: In oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC) and normal oral tissues, podoplanin was used to mark lymphatic tract and recorded the lymphatic vessel density (LVD) by corresponding tissue. The aim of this study was to evaluate LVD in correlation with lymphnode metastases in patients with OSCC.
Methods: The expressions of VEGF-C antibodies and anti-podoplanin were detected in 21 normal oral tissues and 88 paraffin sections of OSCC by immunohistochemistry(S-P); Determination of LVD (assessed by immunostaining for podoplanin) was performed as suggested by Weidner, the numerical value expressed by x±s Intratumoral lymphatic vessels (I-LVD) and peritumoral lymphatic vessels (P-LVD) were assessed, respectively. Data was analyzed with SPSS 13.0 software package and t test was used for comparative analysis of LVD between normal oral tissues and OSCC tissue and LVD (including P-LVD and ILVD) of the lymph node metastasis and without lymph node metastasis.
Results: There was significant difference between LVD of normal control tissues, peritumoral and intratumoral tissues.The intratumoral lymphatic vessels (ILVD) were small and collapsed, while the peritumoral ones were large and dilated. The PLVD's density with lymph node metastasis(14.270±4.610) was significantly higher than that without lymph node metastasis (9.450±2.411, P<0.05).
Conclusion: The results indicated that peritumoral lymphangiogenesis may have an important impact on lymph node metastasis in OSCC.