Measuring Blood Vessel Growth in Tumors
Author Information
Author(s): M.-L. Mlynek, D. van Beunigen, L.-D. Lederl, C. Streffer
Primary Institution: University of Essen
Hypothesis
The grade of vascularisation of malignant tumours and their oxygen supply influence the response of tumour cells to irradiation.
Conclusion
The study found that normal mucosa has significantly more blood vessels than tumor tissue, indicating a substantial heterogeneity in vascular distribution within tumors.
Supporting Evidence
- The average number of vascular cross sections per 0.09 mm2 in tumor tissue varied between 1.09 and 5.57.
- The normal mucosa exhibited a very regular vascular pattern compared to the irregular distribution in tumor tissue.
- Approximately one third of the evaluated squares of the tumor tissue were completely devoid of recognisable vessels.
Takeaway
This study looked at how many blood vessels are in tumor tissue compared to normal tissue, finding that tumors usually have fewer blood vessels.
Methodology
The study used a histochemical procedure to measure the number of vessels in fresh frozen sections of colorectal carcinoma and adjacent normal mucosa.
Limitations
The method may not provide a complete picture of vascularisation due to the inhomogeneous distribution of vessels in tumors.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.002
Statistical Significance
p=0.002
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