The clinical significance of tumor cell-lined vasculature in ovarian carcinoma: implications for anti-vasculogenic therapy.

Vasculogenic mimicry reflects the plasticity of aggressive tumor cells that express vascular cell markers and line tumor vasculature; such has been demonstrated in aggressive ovarian carcinoma. This study measured the clinical significance of tumor cell-lined vasculature in ovarian carcinomas (n=77), which was detected in 23 (29.8%) tumors. The data show that tumor cell-lined vasculature was associated with aggressive tumor features and with shorter overall survival (p<0.001). Cox proportional hazards model revealed that tumor cell-lined vasculature (p=0.002) was independently associated with poor survival. This is the first study demonstrating the clinical implications of tumor cell-lined vasculature in ovarian carcinoma.