In cervical cancer (CC), the heterogeneity of tumor microvessels and their association with the clinical and morphological characteristics and prognosis of the disease remain little studied.
OBJECTIVE
To establish the morphology of tumor microvessels and their correlation with clinical and morphological characteristics and prognosis in Stage I—IIA CC.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS
Tumor samples were examined in 76 patients with newly diagnosed Stage I—II CC, who had undergone radical surgery at the first stage. The tumor samples were immunohistochemically stained using anti-CD34 and anti-podoplanin antibodies. The investigation results were processed using the Statistica 6.0 software.
RESULTS
The investigation identified 8 types of tumor microvessels and structures with an endothelial lining and provided a description of the phenomenon of fragmentation in the tumor solid component. Analysis of correlations of different tumor microvessel types with clinical and morphological characteristics and prognosis of CC showed that the recurrence risk was due only to microvessels with a weak CD34 expression, contact-type microvessels, and the phenomenon of fragmentation in the tumor solid component, which were regarded as poor prognostic factors for Stage I—IIA CC. The simultaneous presence of two or three of these factors in the tumor samples was found to be significantly more often observed in Stages IB and IIA CC (p=0.001), in adenocarcinoma (p=0.02), high-grade tumor (p=0.005), lymphovascular invasion (p=0.005), and recurrent disease (p<0.00001). In the absence or presence of 1, 2 and 3 of the described factors in the tumor samples, the 5-year relapse-free and overall survival rates were 97.3, 100.0, 87.5, and 33.3%, respectively (p<0.00001).
CONCLUSION
A combination of microvessels with a weak CD34 expression, contact-type microvessels, and the phenomenon of fragmentation in the tumor solid component in the tumor can be regarded as a potential poor prognostic factor for Stage I—IIA CC.
