In order to detect the relationships of human laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) with the expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor C (VEGF-C) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-3 (VEGFR-3), we examined the level of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 gene expression in the samples from 30 cases of normal laryngeal mucosa tissue (NLM), primary laryngeal carcinoma (PLC) and cervical lymph node (CLN) by using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The protein levels of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 expression were also determined by Western blotting in 10 cases of NLM, PLC, CLN,respectively. We found that in the samples from the same patient, the VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 expression level is different among normal laryngeal mucosa tissue, primary laryngeal carcinoma and cervical lymph node. In primary laryngeal carcinoma, the level of VEGF-C and VEGFR-3 expression was significantly higher in lymph node positive group than in lymph node negative group, and this difference was the associated with the histological grade of differentiation (P 0.5). These results suggest that there is a close relationship of LSCC with VEGF-C/VEGFR-3; and VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 may have the potential for use as an indicator with prognostic significance in dealing with LSCC.