Published online before print May 31, 2007

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Material All Versions of this Article: ajpath.2007.060589v1 171/1/338    most recent Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Jackowski, S. Articles by Helmbold, P. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Jackowski, S. Articles by Helmbold, P.

(American Journal of Pathology. 2007;171:338-348.)
© 2007 American Society for Investigative Pathology
DOI: 10.2353/ajpath.2007.060589

Radiogenic Lymphangiogenesis in the Skin

Susanne Jackowski^*, Matthias Janusch^*, Eckhard Fiedler^*, Wolfgang C. Marsch^*, Eva J. Ulbrich, Gabriele Gaisbauer^*, Jürgen Dunst, Dontscho Kerjaschki^¶ and Peter Helmbold^{* ||}

From the Departments of Dermatology,^* Gynaecology, and Radiotherapy, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany; the Department of Radiotherapy, University of Lübeck, Lübeck, Germany; the Institute of Pathology,^¶ Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria; and the Department of Dermatology,|| University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany

The time course of microvascular changes in the environment of irradiated tumors was studied in a standardized human protocol. Eighty skin biopsies from 40 patients with previously treated primary breast cancer were taken from irradiated skin and corresponding contralateral unirradiated control areas 2 to 8 weeks, 11 to 14 months, or 17+ months after radiotherapy (skin equivalent dose 30 to 40 Gy). Twenty-two biopsies of 11 melanoma patients who had undergone lymph node dissection were used for unirradiated control. We found an increase of total podoplanin⁺ lymphatic microvessel density resulting mainly from a duplication of the density of smallest lymphatic vessels (diameter <10 µm) in the samples taken 1 year after radiation. Our findings implicate radiogenic lymphangiogenesis during the 1st year after therapy. The numbers of CD68⁺ and vascular endothelial growth factor-C⁺ cells were highly elevated in irradiated skin in the samples taken 2 to 8 weeks after radiotherapy. Thus, our results indicate that vascular endothelial growth factor-C expression by invading macrophages could be a pathogenetic route of induction of radiogenic lymphangiogenesis.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Holmqvist, J. Gao, G. Adell, J. Carstensen, and X.-F. Sun The location of lymphangiogenesis is an independent prognostic factor in rectal cancers with or without preoperative radiotherapy Ann. Onc., November 4, 2009; (2009) mdp486v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]