Abstract
The biological potential of prostate cancer is highly variable and cannot be satisfactorily predicted by histopathological criteria alone. Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, has been suggested to provide important prognostic information in prostate cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate whether microvessel density (MVD) at diagnosis was correlated with disease-specific survival in a non-curative treated population of prostate cancer patients. MVD was immunohistochemically (factor VIII-related antigen) quantified in archival tumours obtained at diagnosis in 221 prostate cancer patients. Median length of follow-up was 15 years. The maximal MVD was quantified inside a 0.25 mm2 area of the tumour and the median MVD was 43 (range 16-151) mm2. MVD was statistically significantly correlated with clinical stage (P < 0.0001) and histopathological grade (P < 0.0001). When dichotomized by the median counts, MVD was shown to be significantly associated (P = 0.0001) with disease-specific survival in the entire population as well as in the theoretically curable clinically localized subpopulation. A multivariate analysis demonstrated that MVD was a significant predictor of disease-specific survival in the entire cancer population (P = 0.0004), as well as in the clinically localized cancer population (P < 0.0001). These findings suggest that quantitation of angiogenesis reflects the spontaneous clinical outcome of prostate cancer.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 24 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $10.79 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Borre, M., Offersen, B., Nerstrøm, B. et al. Microvessel density predicts survival in prostate cancer patients subjected to watchful waiting. Br J Cancer 78, 940–944 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1998.605
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/bjc.1998.605
This article is cited by
-
Microvascular proliferation is associated with high tumour blood flow by mpMRI and disease progression in primary prostate cancer
Scientific Reports (2023)
-
The natural compound atraric acid suppresses androgen-regulated neo-angiogenesis of castration-resistant prostate cancer through angiopoietin 2
Oncogene (2022)
-
Prognostic significance of aberrantly silenced ANPEP expression in prostate cancer
British Journal of Cancer (2013)
-
The prognostic significance of vasohibin-1 expression in patients with prostate cancer
British Journal of Cancer (2013)
-
Rapid decrease in tumor perfusion following VEGF blockade predicts long-term tumor growth inhibition in preclinical tumor models
Angiogenesis (2013)