Endoglin (CD105) positive microvessel density and its relationship with lymph node metastasis in squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue.

Background: Neovascularization is an important factor for predicting tumor behavior. Evidence suggests that endoglin (CD105) is a powerful marker of neovascularization and determination of microvessel density in several malignancies, and can be used as an agent to predict lymph node metastasis. However, it is controversial, particularly in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. We studied CD105-MVD in tongue squamous cell carcinoma and evaluated its correlation with lymph node metastasis in relation to sex, age, and histopathologic grade.

Methods: This study analyzed a total of 40 cases of tongue squamous cell carcinoma by dividing patients into two groups, a) with metastatic lymph nodes (N+) and b) without metastatic lymph nodes (N-). By CD105 immunostaining, microvessel density was determined in three different areas (intratumoral, invasive front and adjacent normal tissue) of all cases. Statistically, we evaluated the relation between microvessel density and lymph node involvement, in addition to other clinicopathologic factors by using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, t-test, and other analyses.

Results: CD105-MVD in the invasive front (P≤0.001) and intratumoral (P≤0.006) areas of the N+ group was significantly higher than in the N-group. In addition, there was a correlation between CD105-MVD and differentiation in the invasive front area (P≤ 0.013) No relation existed between CD105-MVD and other clinicopathologic features.

Conclusion: CD105-MVD, as a prognostic factor, may be helpful for determining the possibility of lymph node metastasis of primary SCC of the tongue.