CD34 IMMUNOHISTOCHEMICAL ASSESSMENT OF ANGIOGENESIS AS A PROGNOSTIC MARKER FOR PROSTATE CANCER RECURRENCE AFTER RADICAL PROSTATECTOMY

AbstractPurpose: We assess the neovascularity of clinically localized prostate cancer by immunohistochemistry using the monoclonal antibody CD34 in an attempt to identify associations between angiogenesis and disease progression following radical prostatectomy.Materials and Methods: Microvascularity was evaluated using the CD34 monoclonal antibody in archival paraffin embedded radical prostatectomy specimens from 149 patients followed from 3 to 10 years (mean 6.6). Vessels were quantified by counting a minimum of 2 selected microscopic fields (200X, 0.754 mm.2) from each tumor, area of prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia and prostatic hyperplasia, and given a numerical value representing the microvessel density count.Results: Mean microvessel density count did not vary significantly with age or race. There was a significant association between the count and nuclear grade, Gleason sum and pathological stage. Cox survival analysis shows that microvessel density is significantly related to time to recurrence...