Lymphangiogenesis and biological behavior in pancreatic carcinoma and other pancreatic tumors

Lymphatic vessels in primary tumor tissue play an important role in lymphatic metastasis. Lymphatic metastasis of malignant neoplasms is significantly related to prognosis, influencing both recurrence and survival. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation of intra-tumoral lymphatic vessel density (iLVD) and peri-tumoral lymphatic vessel density (pLVD) with biological behavior and prognostic parameters in pancreatic carcinoma (PC) and other pancreatic tumors. Lymphangiogenesis was examined using the D2-40 monoclonal antibody in 33 cases of PC, 7 neuroendocrine tumors of the pancreas (NETP), 7 solid pseudopapillary tumors of the pancreas (SPTP) and 3 cystadenomas of the pancreas (CP). Positively-stained microvessels were counted at magnification ×400 in dense lymphatic vascular foci (hotspots). The LVD of PC was compared to 3 other pancreatic tumors. The relationships among the LVD, the extent of differentiation, lymphatic invasion, lymph node metastasis and other clinicopathological parameters of PC were analyzed. There was no difference in the iLVD among PC, NETP, SPTP and CP. The pLVD of NETP was markedly higher than that of PC, SPTP and CP. The pLVD of PC was significantly higher than that of SPTP and CP, but there was no difference between SPTP and CP. The pLVD of PC was significantly associated with the extent of differentiation, lymphatic invasion and lymph node metastasis, whereas it was not associated with age, gender, tumor size, tumor location and peri-pancreatic invasion. The iLVD of PC was not correlated with these clinicopathological parameters. There was no difference in iLVD and no marked difference in pLVD among the pancreatic tumors. Detection of pLVD is of greater importance than detecting iLVD in these pancreatic tumors, as pLVD can be utilized for the prediction of lymph node metastasis, thus aiding in the evaluation of patient prognosis.