Correlation between spiral CT features of pericolic infiltration and tumor angiogenesis in colorectal carcinoma

Objective: To investigate the correlation of spiral CT (SCT) features with pathology, microvessel density (MVD), expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), matrix metalloproteinase-2( MMP-2) in colorectal carcinoma. Methods: Forty patients with colorectal carcinoma confirmed by operation were examined by SCT. The resected tumor specimens were immunohistochemically stained for the expression of VEGF, MMP-2 and the calculation of MVD. Results: The accuracy of SCT in depicting the pericolic and wall infiltration was 92.5%. The metastasis rates of colorectal cancer with pericolic infiltration and wall infiltration were 75.0% and 33.3%, respectively, the differences were statistically significant between the two groups (P<0.05). The differences of CT enhancement value, MVD, expressions of VEGF and MMP-2 between the two groups were statistically significant (P<0.05). The enhancement degree of CT had a positive correlation with MVD (P<0.05). Conclusion: SCT is accurate for depicting pericolic and wall infiltration, pericolic infiltration in colorectal carcinoma indicates the tendency of metastasis. The enhancement degree of CT might be used to quantitatively evaluate the tumor angiogenesis, expressions of VEGF and MMP-2 and MVD are closely correlated with the infiltration of colorectal cancer. (authors)