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Tumor Microvessel Density as a Predictor of Recurrence After Resection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Prospective Study

From the Center for the Study of Liver Disease (CSLD), Departments of Surgery and Pathology, University of Hong Kong Medical Center, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong, China.

Address reprint requests to Ronnie Tung-Ping Poon, MD, Department of Surgery, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pokfulam Rd, Hong Kong, China; email: poontp{at}hkucc.hku.hk

PURPOSE: This study prospectively evaluated the correlation of tumor microvessel density (MVD) with clinicopathologic features and postoperative recurrence in patients undergoing resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Tumor MVD was assessed in 100 patients with resection of HCC using a computer image analyzer after immunostaining for CD34 (MVD-CD34) and von Willebrand factor (MVD-vWF), respectively. Patients were prospectively followed for recurrence.

RESULTS: Mean tumor MVD-CD34 (236/0.74 mm²) was higher than mean tumor MVD-vWF (87/0.74 mm²) (P < .001). By multiple regression analysis, tumor size was the only pathologic feature significantly related to tumor MVD-CD34. The median MVD-CD34 was 316/0.74 mm² in HCCs 5 cm (n = 46) and 146/0.74 mm² in HCCs more than 5 cm (n = 54) (P < .001). Among patients with HCCs 5 cm, those with higher than median MVD-CD34 had worse disease-free survival (at 3 years, 13%) than those with a lower MVD-CD34 (at 3 year, 74%) (P = .002). Multivariate analysis showed that tumor MVD-CD34 was the only significant factor predictive of disease-free survival in patients with HCC 5 cm. For HCCs more than 5 cm, MVD-CD34 did not have a significant prognostic influence. MVD-vWF did not have a significant prognostic influence on disease-free survival in either HCCs 5 cm or more than 5 cm.

CONCLUSION: This study shows that a high MVD-CD34 was predictive of early postresection recurrence in patients with HCCs 5 cm and, therefore, may be a novel prognostic marker in this subset of patients.

An abstract of this study was presented at the American Association of Cancer Research Conference "Angiogenesis and Cancer: From Basic Mechanisms to Therapeutic Implications" in Traverse City, MI, October 11-15, 2000.

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