Neovascularization and mast cells with tryptase activity increase simultaneously with pathologic progression in human endometrial cancer.

In vitro and in vivo studies have linked mast cell (MC) degranulation and activation with angiogenesis and neovascularization. This assumption is partially supported by the close anatomic association between MC and the vasculature and the recruitment of these cells during tumor growth. The aim of this study was to correlate the extent of angiogenesis with the number of MC expressing tryptase in human endometrial adenocarcinoma. Tissues from human endometrial hyperplasia and endometrial adenocarcinoma were investigated immunohistochemically, using 2 murine monoclonal antibodies against the endothelial cell marker CD31 and the MC marker tryptase. Angiogenesis, measured as microvessel counts, was highly correlated with MC tryptase-positive cell counts and that these parameters increase in agreement with tumor progression. These results suggest that angiogenesis in endometrial cancer increases with tumor progression and that angiogenic tryptase secreted by host MC cooperate in its induction.