Expression and clinical significance of microvessel density and its association with TWIST in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is characterized by a high frequency of nodal and distant metastasis at diagnosis. Microvessel density (MVD) is an indicator for angiogenesis that has been shown to correlate with metastasis of cancers. Evidence regarding the roles of MVD in NPC has rarely been reported. Thus, we aimed to investigate the state of angiogenesis in NPC. CD34 and TWIST were detected in sixty-five NPC specimens by immunohistochemistry, respectively. Then, MVD and its association with clinical features as well as TWIST expression have been assessed. As a result, MVD was closely related to cancer progression as reflected by distant metastasis (P < 0.05), and nevertheless, the data failed to show its association with lymph node metastasis and other clinicophathological features (P > 0.05). Interestingly, a marked correlation between TWIST positive expression with increased MVD was observed. The results suggested that MVD might play important roles in the development of NPC and TWIST might promote cancer progression by facilitating angiogenesis. Further studies are needed to confirm the results.