Distributions of Angiogenesis and Lymphangiogenesis in Gastrointestinal Intramucosal Tumors

Background Although angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis in gastrointestinal cancers has been investigated in many studies, their distribution characteristics in gastrointestinal intramucosal tumors have not been well addressed. Methods We evaluated the blood microvessel density (BMVD) and lymphatic microvessel density (LMVD) by immunostaining with monoclonal antibodies of CD34 and D2-40 in 37 patients with stomach intramucosal carcinoma and 28 patients with colorectal intramucosal neoplasia. Microvessels with endothelial cells labeled by CD34 but not by D2-40 were recognized as blood microvessels; and microvessels with endothelial cells labeled by both CD34 and D2-40 were recognized as lymphatic vessels. Furthermore, the relationships between expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), VEGF-C, and BMVD, LMVD were investigated as well. Results The LMVD was significantly higher in peritumoral tissues than in corresponding normal tissues in gastrointestinal intramucosal tumors (20.87 versus 14.56, P = 0.003). However, there was no significant difference in the BMVD between peritumoral tissues and corresponding normal tissues ( P = 0.166). The BMVD in peritumoral tissues was higher in patients with lymph node metastases than in patients without lymph nodes metastases ( P = 0.047). Our results did not show significant association between VEGF, VEGF-C and BMVD, LMVD. Conclusions Our results suggested that the increase of lymphangiogenesis seems superior to the increase of angiogenesis in gastrointestinal intramucosal tumors.