TY - JOUR AB - The present study was designed to investigate the role of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR)-3/Flt-4 in the early stages of cervical cancer. VEGFR-3/Flt-4 expression, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C and VEGF-D in the early stages (Ia-IIa) of cervical cancer in 41 patients was examined by immunohistochemical analysis. Additionally, the VEGFR-3/Flt-4-marked vascular density (MVD) was examined and the relationship of these factors with clinicopathological factors was analyzed. VEGFR-3/Flt-4 was found to be expressed in lymphatic endothelial cells and, to a certain extent, in vascular endothelial cells. The VEGFR-3/Flt-4-positive vessels were largely distributed in the stroma surrounding the tumor tissues, and these vessels were morphologically divided into blood and lymphatic vessels, respectively. Cancer cells were found to express VEGF-C, VEGF-D and VEGFR-3/Flt-4, and their positive expression rate was 48.7% (20/41), 58.5% (24/41) and 63.4% (26/41), respectively. VEGFR-3/Flt-4 expression in the cancer cells of the cervical cancer patients in our study was found to be correlated to the clinical stage, lymph node metastasis, lymphatic invasion and expression of VEGF-C and VEGF-D. However, this expression was unrelated to menstrual status, histological grade and histological classification. MVD was correlated to the clinical stage and expression of VEGF-C and VEGF-D, but was unrelated to menstrual status, histological grade, histological classification, lymph node metastasis and lymphatic invasion. In conclusion, VEGFR-3/Flt-4 plays an important role in the early stages of cervical cancer. AD - Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Shandong 250012, P.R. China. zhangshiqian370112@126.com null AU - Zhang,Shiqian AU - Yu,Hao AU - Zhang,Linlin DA - 2010/05/01 DO - 10.3892/ol_00000080 EP - 456 IS - 3 JO - Oncol Lett PY - 2010 SN - 1792-1074 1792-1082 SP - 453 ST - Role of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3/Flt-4 in early-stage cervical cancer T2 - Oncology Letters TI - Role of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-3/Flt-4 in early-stage cervical cancer UR - https://doi.org/10.3892/ol_00000080 VL - 1 ER -