High intensity of tumour angiogenesis has been correlated with an increased potential of metastasis and poor prognosis in human malignancies. We investigated 43 patients with cervical cancer stages IB (n = 13), IIA (n = 8) and IIB (n = 22). All patients were treated by radical hysterectomy and lymphadenectomy. In the tumour specimen blood vessels were highlighted by staining endothelial cells for factor VIII. Microvessels were counted on a 200x field (0.74 mm2) in the most active areas of neovascularisation. The mean microvessel counts per field for stage IB, IIA and IIB tumours were 59.6 +/- 28.1, 56.3 +/- 24.3 and 55.7 +/- 55.6, respectively (p-value = n.s.). We found no significant correlation of microvessel density and established prognostic factors like pelvic lymph node involvement, vascular space invasion and stromal reaction. Patients with tumours showing low microvessel density (< 40 microvessels per field) had a significantly poorer recurrence-free interval (log-rank test: p-value = 0.01).