Objective：To explore the correlation between E-cadherin, VEGF-C,D expression,  and blood and lymphatic microvessel density with recurrence of primary tumors of node-negative colon cancer patients.
Methods：Thirty-six cases of disease recurrence within 5 years(observation group) and 61 cases of no disease recurrence for at least 5 years(control group) were selected in this study. Tumor samples were stained by antibodies E-cadherin, VEGF-C, VEGF-D, CD31 (BMVD) and D2-40 (LMVD) using immunohistochemistry, E-cadherin mRNA was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and the relationship between clinico-pathological features and recurrence of colon cancer was analyzed.
Results：The results showed that there were no significant differences in the clinico-pathological features, expression of VEGF-C and BMVD, and lymphatic and blood vessel tumor invasion between observation group and control group(P＞0.05), but there were significant differences in expression of E-cadherin, VEGF-D and LMVD between the 2 groups(P＜0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed the absent expression of E-cadherin and high LMVD (odds ratio 4.3 and 3.1 respectively) to be independent factors predicting disease recurrence.
Conclusions：High-risk of recurrence for patients with node-negative colon cancer can be identified by assessment of E-cadherin expression and LMVD in primary tumor.