- 作者：Michihide Kono ; Masato Watanabe ; Harutsugi Abukawa ; On Hasegawa ; Takafumi Satomi ; Daichi Chikazu
- 刊名：Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
- 出版年：2013
- 出版时间：October, 2013
- 年：2013
- 卷：71
- 期：10
- 页码：1694-1702
- 全文大小：3845 K
Purpose
Cervical lymph node metastasis in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is recognized as a poor prognostic factor, although its mechanism remains unclear. Recently, cyclo-oxygenase-2 (COX-2) level has been found to correlate highly with vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and lymph node metastasis, as in other solid tumors. However, there has been no report of this correlation in?OSCC. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate whether COX-2 immunohistochemical expression in OSCC was associated with VEGF-C expression, histopathologic parameters, and lymph node metastasis.Materials and Methods
Lymphatic vessel density, VEGF-C, and COX-2 immunohistochemical expression were examined pathologically in 60 specimens of invasive OSCC. Relations of histopathologic parameters to lymph node metastasis were analyzed.
Results
Expression levels of VEGF-C and COX-2 and lymphatic vessel density in the lymph node metastatic group were significantly higher than in the nonmetastatic group (P < .01). A significant correlation was found between the expression levels of VEGF-C and COX-2 (r?= 0.512; P < .001). COX-2 expression was significantly related to lymph node metastasis (P?= .004) and VEGF-C expression (P?=?.005). Univariate analysis showed that survival time was impaired by higher COX-2 and VEGF-C expression levels. Multivariate survival analysis showed that COX-2 expression was an independent prognostic factor.
Conclusion
This study showed that VEGF-C expression was upregulated by COX-2 in OSCC. High VEGF-C expression appears to promote peritumoral lymphangiogenesis. These data indicated that lymph node metastasis is promoted by COX-2 and VEGF-C in OSCC.