环氧合酶-2、血管内皮生长因子和微血管密度与食管鳞癌病理特征的关系

目的：研究食管鳞癌中环氧合酶—2(COX—2)、血管内皮生长因子(VEGF)的表达和微血管密度(MVD)与肿瘤病理特征之间的关系。方法：应用免疫组化的方法检测62例食管鳞癌组织、42例正常食管上皮中的COX—2、VEGF、CD31的表达，以CD31作为MVD指标．分析它们的表达与肿瘤病理特征之间的关系以及它们三者之间的相互关系。结果：食管鳞癌中COX—2和VEGF的表达较正常食管上皮明显增加；COX—2、VEGF的表达与MVD值正相关；三者水平与肿瘤TNM分期、浸润深度、淋巴结转移正相关。结论：COX—2、VEGF在食管鳞癌组织中高表达，与血管生成关系密切，可能参与了肿瘤生长、浸润和转移，可作为判断食管鳞癌生物学行为的重要指标。

Expression of COX-2, VEGF protein and MVD in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas and relationship to clinicopathological features

Objective: To investigate the expression of Cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) and their relationships to angiogenesis and clinicopathologic features in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC). Methods: Using immunohistochemistry, the authors assessed the expression of COX-2, VEGF and CD31(as microvessel density, MVD) in 62 surgically resected specimens from paitents with ESCC and 42 with normal esoghageal mucosa. The correlation between the expression of COX-2,VEGF and MVD was investigated. Their relationships to clinicopathologic variables were also explored. Results: The expressions of COX-2, VEGF and CD31 were more frequently in ESCC than normal mucosa. In ESCC, COX-2 overexpression were significantly associated with high MVD and with VEGF expression. And high COX-2 and VEGF expression correlated with TNM classification, depth of tumour invasion and lymph node metastasis. Conclusion: COX-2 and VEGF are highly expressed in ESCC and the expression of COX-2 is related to increased angiogenesis, maybe partly through activation of the VEGF angiogenic pathway. Overexpression of COX-2 and VEGF could be used as biological indices for evaluating the behavior of ESCC.