Figure 5

LYVE-1 immunostaining. A shows mean lymphatic vessel density, and B shows mean vessel area, both of which are indicators of lymphovascular capacity. Both measures were found to have unequal variance between groups, and therefore although the groups were not equivalent, ANOVA could not be used to verify their differences. While 3 week old MFP tumours had the highest mean lymphatic vessel density, 5 week old SC tumours had greater mean vessel size, both of which contribute to overall lymphatic drainage capacity. All data are shown as the mean of n = 4 animals ± SD. Representative images of fluid-filled spaces lined with collagen (violet) but not with endothelial cells (negative for CD31, brown)are shown in: C 3 week MFP and D 5 week SC tumours. Several of these spaces, which indicate lymphedema, are highlighted with black arrows; blue staining represents cell nuclei. Scale bars represent 200 μm.