Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Oncology and Research Center for Life Science Resources, Kagoshima University Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima, Japan.
PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C and -D in pancreatic cancer and to reveal its relation to lymph node metastasis. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded blocks were obtained from 58 patients with pancreatic head cancer. All of the patients underwent a curative resection. The total number of resected lymph nodes was 1,058. The expressions of VEGF-C and -D were evaluated by immunohistochemical staining. To evaluate the relation to lymph node metastasis, the expressions of VEGF-C and -D between the marginal and central portions in the tumor were compared. When >25% of the tumor cells showed distinct staining, the portion was judged as high expression. RESULTS: The two groups with high expression of VEGF-C (P = 0.015) and VEGF-D (P = 0.020) in the marginal portion had a significantly higher incidence of lymph node metastasis compared with the groups with low expression, respectively. Furthermore, the group with high expression of both VEGF-C and -D in the marginal portion had a higher incidence of lymph node metastasis compared with the group with low expression (P = 0.007). The 5-year survival rate of patients with high expression of both VEGF-C and -D in the marginal portion was significantly lower than that of patients with low expression of both VEGF-C and -D (P = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: VEGF-C and -D expression in tumor cells in the marginal portion of the tumor significantly associated with lymphatic metastasis and prognosis in patients with pancreatic head cancer.