The monoclonal antibody D2-40 is a new selective marker for lymphatic endothelium. The lymphatic microvessel density (LMVD) using D2-40 has not yet been evaluated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The aim of this study was to evaluate LMVD using D2-40 in NSCLC. We investigated LMVD in 77 patients with NSCLC who underwent curative tumor resection. We also determined the relation between LMVD and clinicopathologic factors, VEGF-C and Ang-2 and microvessel density (MVD) using factor VIII-related antigen. The median number of D2-40-positive vessels in the highest LMVD was 25 (range, 5-71). LMVD was significantly associated with tumor status, lymph node metastasis, stage, lymphatic invasion, VEGF-C protein and MVD (p=0.0149 for tumor status; p<0.0001 for nodal status; p<0.0001 for stage; p=0.0153 for lymphatic invasion; p=0.0030 for VEGF-C, and p=0.0029 for MVD). Furthermore, LMVD using D2-40 expression was shown to be an independent predictor of lymph node metastasis by multivariate analysis (p=0.0070). These data indicate that a high LMVD by D2-40 may be an indicator of lymph node metastasis in NSCLC.

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