Table 1.
Characteristics of patients.
Fig 1.
The detailed distribution of the 166 sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) examined in this study.
The typical patient had 3–4 SLNs in this study. 26 metastatic and 50 non-metastatic SLNs are from 19 metastatis-positive cases. 90 non-metastatic SLNs are from 25 metastasis-negative cases. SLNs, sentinel lymph nodes.
Fig 2.
Immunohistochemistry of sentinel lymph nodes (original magnification, x100).
A, B, Podoplanin antibody for lymphatic endothelial cells. Lymphatic vessels and sinuses highlighted by podoplanin staining were scattered (A) or accumulated (B) in the stroma of lymphatic tissues. C, VEGFR3 antibody for lymphatic endothelial cells. Lymphatic vessels and sinuses were detected as scattered lumens in a similar staining pattern to podoplanin staining. D, High endothelial venules detected by MECA-79 antibody were round, and some endothelial cells were effaced and lumens were wide and fusiform. VEGFR3, vascular endothelial growth factor 3.
Fig 3.
Representative images of VEGF-A (A), VEGF-C (B), VEGF-D (C), and VEGFR3 (D) immunohistochemical staining in primary oral squamous cell carcinoma (original magnification, x100).
VEGF-A, VEGF-C, and VEGF-D were mainly immunolocalized in the cytoplasm of tumor cells. VEGFR3 was localized in the cytoplasm and/or at the membrane of tumor cells. VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factr; VEGFR3, VEGF receptor 3.
Table 2.
Association of LVDpodoplanin, LVDVEGFR3 and HEVD with lymph node metastasis.
Table 3.
The relationship between clinicopathological factors and expression of VEGFs, and LVDpodoplanin, LVDVEGFR3, and HEVD.
Table 4.
Associations of lymph node metastasis with expression of VEGFs.