Elevated perioperative serum vascular endothelial growth factor levels in patients with colon carcinoma

Abstract

BACKGROUND To the authors' knowledge, little is known to date regarding the prognostic relevance of measuring serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a potent stimulator of angiogenesis, in patients with colon carcinoma who undergo surgery. METHODS Preoperative and postoperative VEGF serum levels were determined by enzyme‐linked immunoadsorbent assay in 81 patients with colon carcinoma who were undergoing surgery. Fifty healthy individuals served to define normal VEGF serum levels. RESULTS Preoperative VEGF serum levels were significantly higher in the group of patients with colon carcinoma (mean, 504.1 pg/mL ± 223 pg/mL; range, 285–1390 pg/mL; 95% confidence interval [95%CI], 49 pg/mL) compared with the control group (mean, 78.1 pg/mL ± 22 pg/mL; range, 40–110 pg/mL; 95%CI, 4.3 pg/mL; P < 0.001). Multiple regression analysis demonstrated a significant correlation (r) between preoperative VEGF serum levels and age (r = − 0.275; P = 0.013), Dukes stage (r = 0.488; P < 0.001), and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) levels (r = 0.285; P < 0.018). No significant correlation was found between preoperative VEGF serum levels and disease site, patient gender, tumor size, tumor grade, or performance status. Moreover, preoperative VEGF serum levels were significantly lower in patients who underwent curative surgery compared with patients who underwent noncurative surgery (443 pg/mL ± 117 pg/mL vs. 821 ± 353 pg/mL, respectively; P < 0.0001). Logistic regression analysis selected preoperative VEGF and CEA serum levels as the only good prognostic indicators of curative and noncurative surgery (P < 0.001; relative risk, 2.98 and 2.03, respectively). Furthermore, VEGF serum levels dropped significantly after surgery, with a further downward trend until the 30th postoperative day (P < 0.001). Stepwise regression analysis selected preoperative VEGF serum level as the only variable associated significantly with the prediction of both disease‐specific survival and disease‐free survival (P = 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Preoperative serum VEGF levels may be useful for predicting outcome in patients with colon carcinoma who undergo surgery. Cancer 2004;100:270–8. © 2003 American Cancer Society.

Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-A (VEGF-A) as a Biomarker in Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck Patients Undergoing Chemoradiotherapy

“…It promotes the proliferation of vascular endothelial cells and angiogenesis (Lv et al, 2010). Serum VEGF-A is highly elevated in several types of cancer including colon (De Vita et al, 2004), cervix (Zusterzeel et al, 2009), breast and gynaecological cancer (Koukourakis et al, 2011), non-small cell lung cancer (Liang et al, 2013) and prostate (Singh et al, 2013). In our study, serum VEGF-A level was found to be significantly higher (p=0.001) in SCCHN patients as compared to healthy controls.…”

Phase II trial of the antiangiogenic agent IM862 in metastatic renal cell carcinoma

“…This significant decline in plasma VEGF levels would make IM862 an antiangiogenic agent worth of consideration for further investigation. Effectively, some preliminary studies have linked VEGF levels with tumour burden in colon carcinoma (Nakayama et al, 2002;De Vita et al, 2004). Interestingly, VEGF levels dropped significantly after surgery and persistent elevated VEGF levels correlated with relapse, indicating significant residual disease.…”

IL-17 and VEGF are significantly associated with disease progression involving systemic inflammation in patients with gastric and colorectal cancers

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