Objective:To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-C(VEGF-C) and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3(VEGFR-3)and the correlation with the lymph node metastasis in esophagus squamous cell carcinoma.Methods:72 esophagus squamous cell carcinoma cases with complete clinical

pathological and following-up data were included in this study.Immunohistological method SABC was used to detect the expression of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3.Results:(1)The VEGF-C positive rate in esophagus squamous cell carcinomas is 59.72%(43/72).The mean number of VEGFR-3 vessel in VEGF-C positive group is 5.02±2.24 per high power field(HPF)

while is 2.82±0.16 per HPF in VEGF-C negative group.The former is significantly higher than the later ( P <0.01).(2)The VEGF-C density in group with lymph node metastasis is stronger than that in group non-metastasis ( P <0.01).The mean number of VEGFR-3 vessel in group with lymph node metastasis is 6.20±2.77 per HPF

but is 3.40±1.09 per HPF in group without metastasis.The VEGFR-3 vessel number is significantly different between them( P <0.01).(3)Survival curves determined by the Kaplan-Meier method demonstrated that the 5 year survival rate in VEGF-C positive group is 14.92%

but is 63.67% in VEGF-C negative group.The survival rate is significantly different between them( P <0.01).Conclusion:High expression of VEGF-C in esophagus squamous cell carcinoma can promote lymphangiogenesis and lymph node metastasis.VEGF-C is one of the prognostic factors in esophagus squamous cell carcinoma.