Table 1.
Clinicopathological factors and VEGF-C expression
| VEGF-C expression | ||||
| Positive (n = 16) | Negative (n = 18) | P Value | ||
| Age | 64.7 ± 11.6 | 64.1 ± 10.8 | 0.870 | |
| Gender ( M / F ) | 10 / 6 | 11 / 17 | 0.999 | |
| pT classification1 | pT1 | 1 | 4 | 0.56 |
| pT2 | 8 | 11 | ||
| pT3 | 7 | 3 | ||
| Histopathological Grading1 | G1 | 10 | 15 | 0.225 |
| G2 | 6 | 2 | ||
| G3 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Lymphatic vessel invasion | (presence) | 14 (87.5 %) | 13 (72.2 %) | 0.405 |
| Venous invasion | (presence) | 10 (62.5 %) | 4 (22.2 %) | 0.035 |
| Perineural invasion | (presence) | 14 (87.5 %) | 10 (55.6 %) | 0.063 |
| Lymph nodes metastasis | Metastasis (-) | 6 | 13 | 0.042 |
| Metastasis (+) | 10 | 5 | ||
| (including micrometastasis) | ||||
1
According to the TNM staging system. pT classification: pT1: Tumor confined the bile duct; pT2: Tumor invades beyond the wall of the bile duct; pT3: Tumor invades the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, and/or unilateral tributaries of the portal vein (right or left) or hepatic artery (right or left); pT4: Tumor invades any of follwing: main portalvein or its tributaries bilatellary, common hepatic artery, or other adjacent structures, e.g., colon, stomach, duodenum, abdominal wall. Histopathological Grading: G1: Well differentiated; G2: Moderately differentiated; G3: Poorly differentiated.