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PROGNOSTIC SIGNIFICANCE OF MICROVESSEL COUNT IN LOW STAGE RENAL CELL CARCINOMA
Author(s) -
Yoshino Shuji,
Kato Mikio,
Okada Koichi
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
international journal of urology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.172
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1442-2042
pISSN - 0919-8172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1442-2042.1995.tb00445.x
Subject(s) - medicine , stage (stratigraphy) , renal cell carcinoma , microvessel , oncology , carcinoma , pathology , urology , angiogenesis , paleontology , biology
Background: It has been postulated that tumors beyond a certain size are dependent on angiogenesis, which might also be related to distant metastasis. We therefore assessed the prognostic significance of tumor microvasculature in renal cell carcinoma. Methods: Tumor specimens from 84 patients with primary renal cell carcinoma were examined by immunohistochemical staining for factor VIII. Individual microvessels were counted in a 200 × field overlying the area of highest neovacularization. Results: The mean number of microvessels in patients with metastases was significantly higher than that in patients who were disease‐free for more than three years ( P = 0.004). The survival of patients with less than 30 microvessels per 200 × field was significantly higher than that of patients with more than 30 microvessels per 200 × field ( P = 0.007). Multivariate analyses revealed that these microvessel counts were the only significant predictor of prognosis in 45 patients with T1‐2 and MO tumors ( P = 0.028). Conclusions: Assessment of tumor microvasculature is therefore probably one of the most important prognostic predictors in renal cell carcinoma.