Objective: To evaluate angiogenesis in ovaries of women with stage I invasive and low-malignant-potential epithelial ovarian carcinoma.
Methods: Ovarian specimens of 49 consecutive women with primary stage I invasive (n = 15) or stage I low-malignant-potential epithelial ovarian carcinoma (n = 34) were stained immunohistochemically for factor VIII-related antigen. Microvessel counts were tested for correlation with patient age, race, parity, previous oral contraceptive use, histologic type, tumor grade, tumor size, ascites, tumor excrescences, and disease-free and overall survival. Statistical analysis included multiple linear regression, Student t tests, factorial analysis of variance, and Cox proportional hazards regression, with P <.05 considered statistically significant.
Results: Microvessel counts of ovarian specimens of women with stage I invasive epithelial ovarian carcinoma (median 30, range 17-73) were significantly higher than those of women with stage I low-malignant-potential epithelial ovarian carcinoma (median 10, range 5-23), (P <.001). Among women with low-malignant-potential disease, microvessel counts did not differ significantly between serous and mucinous carcinomas (median 10, range 5-23 versus median 11, range 5-20, respectively, P =.78). There was no correlation between microvessel counts and age, tumor grade, tumor size, ascites, or tumor excrescences.
Conclusion: Angiogenesis as assessed by microvessel counts is more intense in stage I invasive ovarian epithelial carcinoma compared with stage I low-malignant-potential carcinoma, and might assist in differentiating between these histopathologic entities.