Detection of D2-40 monoclonal antibody-labeled lymphatic vessel invasion in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and its clinicopathologic significance

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the clinicopathologic significance of lymphatic vessel invasion (LVI) labeled by D2-40 monoclonal antibody in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). METHODS: Immunohistochemical assay was used to detect the expression of D2-40 and LVI in 107 ESCC patients. Then, the correlation between the clinicopathologic feature and the overall survival time of the patients was analyzed. RESULTS: The lymph node metastasis rates were 70% and 21% in the LVI-positive and LVI-negative groups, respectively. The nodal metastasis rate was higher in the LVI-positive group than in the LVI-negative group. Multivariate regression analysis showed that LVI was related to nodal metastasis (P<0.001). The median survival time of the patients was 26 and 43 months in the LVI-positive and LVI-negative groups, respectively. Although univariate regression analysis showed significant difference between the two groups (P=0.014), multivariate regression analysis revealed that LVI was not an independent prognostic factor for overall survival in the ESCC patients (P=0.062). Lymphatic node metastasis (P=0.031), clinical stage (P=0.019), and residual tumor (P=0.026) were the independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSION: LVI labeled by D2-40 monoclonal antibody is a risk factor predictive of lymph node metastasis in ESCC patients.