The natural progression of microvasculature in primary tumor and lymph node metastases in a breast carcinoma model: relationship between microvessel density, vascular endothelial growth factor expression, and metastatic invasion.

The natural course of tumor microvascularity in rat MTLn3 mammary adenocarcinomas was studied. The relationship between microvessel density (MVD), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression, and histopathology was compared in primary and metastatic axillary (ALN) and inguinal lymph node (ILN) tumors over 5-6 tumor doublings. Excised tumors were examined for (i) MVD assessed by immunostaining with anti-CD31 antibody, (ii) VEGF expression assessed by immunostaining with anti-VEGF antibody, and (iii) histopathologic extent of metastatic lymph node invasion.