Clinicopathological Study of predictors of delayed cervical lymph node metastases in tongue carcinoma.

1999 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 10671897
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Surgical dentistry
• Research Institution: Nara Medical University
• Principal Investigator: KIRITA Tadaaki Dept.of Oral & Maxillofacial Surg., Associate Professor, 医学部, 助教授 (70201465)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): ENDOH Kakehiro Dept.of Oral & Maxillofacial Surg., Resident, 医学部, 医員 ; YAMAMOTO Kazuhiko Dept.of Oral & Maxillofacial Surg., Lecturer, 医学部, 講師 (20243842)
• Project Period (FY): 1998 – 1999
• Keywords: tongue carcinoma / lymph node metastases / vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) / Flt-4 / predictor

Research Abstract

Immunohistochemical study associated with delayed cervical lymph node metastases of squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue were investigated. Delayed cervical lymph node metastases were found in 8 (33.3%) of 34 patients with tongue carcinoma of stage I and II from October 1983 to June 1997. We examined the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Flt-4, E-cadherin and Ki-67 and their relationship to delayed cervical lymph node metastases. The intensity of VEGF expression tended to correlate with delayed cervical lymph node metastases, but not significant (p=0.0845). The expression of E-cadherin and Ki-67 positive rate did not correlate with delayed cervical lymph node metastases (E-cadherin : p=0.8091, Ki-67 : p=0.8218). The vessel density in Flt-4-positive carcinomas was higher than that in Flt-4-negative carcinomas (p=0.0083). These findings suggest that the expression of VEGF and Flt-4 are probably predictors of delayed cervical lymph node metastases in tongue carcinoma.