Abstract: Objective To evaluate the significance of expression of vascular endothelial growth factor-C （VEGF-C） and cytokeratin 19 （CK19） in patients with stage I non-small cell lung cancer （NSCLC）. Methods A total of 269 patients with NSCLC who underwent standard lobectomy and lymph node dissection by the same surgical team in our hospital from January 2004 to June 2005 were included in this study. All the clinical data and follow-up results were complete, and all the pathological specimens were well kept. No preoperative or postoperative adjuvant therapy such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy was administered to those patients. Expressions of VEGF-C in cancer tissues was detected by immunohistochemical streptavidin-peroxidase （S-P） method, and CK19 was marked to examine micrometastasis in hilar and mediastinal lymph nodes. Clinical outcomes, pathological results and follow-up data were analyzed in combination with VEGF-C and CK19 expression. Results VEGF-C expression was not statistically different between different category in sex（Hc=1.722，P=0.084）, age （Hc=0.914，P=0.360）, smoking （Hc=2.440，P=0.295）, pathology type （Hc=5.668，P=0.058）or tumor size （Hc=0.165，P=0.920） . VEGF-C expression was statistically different between different groups of pathological differentiation （Hc=29.178，P=0.000). CK19 expression was not statistically different between different category in sex（χ2=0.000，P=0.999）, age （χ2=0.005，P=0.999）, smoking （χ2=2.294，P=0.317）, pathology type （χ2=0.573，P=0.289）, tumor size（χ2=0.006，P=0.999）, and pathological differentiation （χ2=2.927，P=0.231）. Five-year survival rate was statistically different between different grade of VEGF-C expression （χ2=37.318，P=0.000), and was also statistically different between positive group and negative group of CK19 （χ2=39.987，P=0.000). There was statistical difference between different grade of VEGF-C expression and positive rate of CK19 （χ2=25.954，P=0.000). Conclusion Expression of VEGF-C and CK19 is closely related to postoperative 5-year survival of patients with stage I NSCLC. Detection of VEGF-C and CK19 is of great clinical significance as it is helpful to predict patient prognosis and choose proper postoperative adjuvant therapy.
