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VEGF-C/VEGFRS and Cancer Metastasis

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Growth Factors and their Receptors in Cancer Metastasis

Part of the book series: Cancer Metastasis - Biology and Treatment ((CMBT,volume 2))

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Abstract

Vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) is the only factor known causing lymphangiogenesis. We report herein the review of recent experimental studies on VEGF family and their receptors and the molecular mechanisms of the lymphangiogenesis in cancer. According to our study, VEGF-C is a potent stimulator in not only the angiogenesis but also the lymphangiogenesis on the chick chorioallantoic membrane. In the clinical specimens from gastric cancer, there is an intimate relationship between the VEGF receptor-3/VEGF-C tissue status and lymphagiogenesis. RT-PCR and immunohistological examinations demonstrated that VEGF-C was mainly produced from cancer cells and that VEGFR-3 expression was restricted in the endothelial cells of lymphatic vessels. VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 mRNA expression were positively correlated in primary gastric cancers and the number of VEGFR-3 positive lymphatic vessels in VEGF-C mRNA positive tumour was significantly larger than that in VEGF-C negative tumours. The number of such vessels in tumour stroma was closely related to the grade of lymphatic invasion of gastric cancer. Accordingly, we conclude that VEGF-C may induce the lymphatic neogenesis in the stroma of primary gastric cancer. In these circumstances, cancer cells can easily intravasate into the lymphatic vessels, because of the increase of the contact point of cancer cells with lymphatic vessels.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Second Department of Surgery, School of Medicine, Kanazawa Unversity, Takara-Machi 13-1, Kanazawa, 920

    Yutaka Yonemura & Taina Partaneri

  2. Experimental Therapeutics Cancer Research Institute, Kanazawa University, Takara-Machi 13-1, Kanazawa, 920

    Yoshio Endou & Takuma Sasaki

  3. Virology Division, National Cancer Center Research Institute, 5-1-1 Tsukiji, Chuoo-Ku, Tokyo, 104

    Kazuo Sugiyama

  4. Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Kanazawa Unversity, Takara-Machi 13-1, Kanazawa, 920

    Tetumouri Yamashima

  5. Molecular/Cancer Biology Laboratory, Haatman Institute, University of Helsinki, PL 21, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Kari Alitalo

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  1. Yutaka Yonemura
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  2. Yoshio Endou
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  3. Takuma Sasaki
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  4. Kazuo Sugiyama
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  5. Tetumouri Yamashima
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  6. Taina Partaneri
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas

    C. R. Snyder

  2. University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, UK

    Wen G. Jiang

  3. University of Osaka Medical School, Osaka, Japan

    Kunio Matsumoto  & Toshikazu Nakamura  & 

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© 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers

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Yonemura, Y. et al. (2001). VEGF-C/VEGFRS and Cancer Metastasis. In: Snyder, C.R., Jiang, W.G., Matsumoto, K., Nakamura, T. (eds) Growth Factors and their Receptors in Cancer Metastasis. Cancer Metastasis - Biology and Treatment, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48399-8_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-48399-8_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-7923-7141-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-0-306-48399-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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