Prognosis of breast-carcinoma lymphagenesis evaluated by immunohistochemical investigation of vascular-endothelial-growth-factor receptor 3

✍ Scribed by Jocelyne Jacquemier; Marie-Pierre Mathoulin-Portier; Reija Valtola; Emmanuelle Charafe-Jauffret; Jeannine Geneix; Gilles Houvenaeghel; Brigitte Puig; Valérie-Jeanne Bardou; Jacques Hassoun; Patrice Viens; Daniel Birnbaum

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 336 KB
• Volume: 89
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(20000120)89:1<69::aid-ijc11>3.0.co;2-m

✦ Synopsis

Very few studies have yet addressed the question of the existence and role of lymphagenesis in tumor growth; it is generally overshadowed by the greater emphasis placed on the blood vascular system. Monoclonal antibodies against vascular endothelial-growth-factor receptor 3 (VEGFR3) have been shown to provide a specific antigenic marker for lymphatic endothelium. By comparison with the microvascular count (MVC), we investigated the prognostic value of the microlymphatic count (MLC) in a series of 60 cases of 2-cmdiameter breast carcinomas. The mean value of MVC was 72.5 and of MLC, 40.5. There was no quantitative correlation between these 2 parameters. The MVC but not the MLC had a prognostic value in overall survival. Neither the MLC nor the MVC had any correlation with axillary-lymph-node invasion.