Table 5.
Correlation of lymphatic endothelial cell proliferation and lymphatic metastasis
# of Patients |
Method of Analysis |
Comments | P valuea | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|
177 | Double IHC, D2-40/Ki-67 |
Proliferating lymphatics were detected in 29% of specimens and were significantly associated with inflammatory infiltrate |
Not assessed | [23] |
123 | IHC | Higher incidence of LVI was associated with increased LEC proliferation and correlated to the presence of micrometastases |
P=0.002 | [42] |
121 | Double IHC, podoplanin & Ki-67 |
No correlation between intratumoral lymphatic vessel density inside the lymph node metastases and patient survival |
NS | [80] |
110 | Double IHC, D2-40/Ki-67 |
Median intra- and perinodal lymphatic endothelial cell proliferation fractions were higher in metastatic LN |
P<0.001 | [86] |
75 | Double IHC, LYVE-1/Ki-67 |
None of the breast carcinomas displayed dividing lymphatic endothelial cells, but a fraction of the peritumoral lymphatics contained tumor emboli |
NS | [77] |
65 | Double IHC, D2-40/Ki-67 |
LECP%b correlated with a positive non-sentinel LN status | P = 0.01 | [85] |
56 | Double IHC, D2-40/Ki-67 |
The degree of lymphatic endothelial cell proliferation was predictive of LN metastasis. Inflammatory breast cancer specimens displayed significantly higher LECP% than non-inflammatory breast tumors (5.74% vs. 1.83%, P=0.005) |
P = 0.01 | [24] |
32 | Double IHC, LYVE-1/Ki-67 |
Inflammatory breast cancers contained significantly higher LECP% than non-inflammatory specimens (P = 0.033) |
Not assessed | [84] |
P value indicates significant association of a fraction of lymphatic endothelial cells undergoing division with lymphatic metastasis.
LECP%, lymphatic endothelial cell proliferation fraction or percent of total LEC identified by specific lymphatic endothelial cell markers.