Prognostic Significance of Microvessel Density Determining by Endoglin in Stage II Rectal Carcinoma: A Retrospective Analysis

Background. The role of endoglin in the Dukes B rectal cancer is still unexplored. The aim of this study was to examine the expression of endoglin (CD105) in resected rectal cancer and to evaluate the relationship between microvessels density (MVD), clinicopathological factors, and survival rates. Methods. The study included 95 primary rectal adenocarcinomas, corresponding to 67 adjacent and 73 distant normal mucosa specimens from surgical resection samples. Tumor specimens were paraffin-embedded and immunohistochemical staining for the CD105 endothelial antigen was performed to count CD105-MVD. For exact measurement of the CD105-MVD used a computer-integrated system Alphelys Spot Browser 2 was used. Results. The intratumoral CD105-MVD was significantly higher compared with corresponding adjacent mucosa (P < 0.0001) and distant mucosa specimens (P < 0.0001). There was no significant difference in the CD105-MVD according to patients age, gender, tumor location, grade of differentiation, histological type, depth of tumor invasion, and tumor size. The overall survival rate was significantly higher in the low CD105-MVD group of patients than in the high CD105-MVD group of patients (log-rank test, P = 0.0406). Conclusion. CD105-assessed MVD could help to identify patients with possibility of poor survival in the group of stage II RC.