Abstract
INTRODUCTION A POSITIVE correlation of increasing intratumoral microvessel density (IMD) with various measures of tumour aggressiveness has been reported for a long list of solid tumours arising at multiple body sites. This list includes not only cancers of the breast, head and neck, lung, skin, stomach, colon, rectum, bone marrow, and central nervous system, but also those arising in the prostate, bladder, ovary, cervix, endometrium and testis. In most of these studies increasing IMD was found to have independent prognostic significance when compared to traditional prognostic markers by multivariate analysis. These reports are derived from numerous independent medical centres located around the world and these, as well as other evidence supporting the importance of tumour vascularity in the growth and spread of cancer, have been recently extensively reviewed [l]. Also, recent work, especially for prostate carcinoma, suggests that the assessment of IMD may first achieve widespread practical application in urogenital tract tumours. This review will focus on those studies of urogenital tract tumours wherein measuring tumour angiogenesis has been useful as a prognostic factor.
Published Version
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