Prognostic significance of VEGF expression in osteosarcoma: a meta-analysis

Abstract

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is considered as a prime mediator of angiogenesis and has been implicated in carcinogenesis and metastasis. Various studies examined the relationship between VEGF overexpression with the clinical outcome in patients with osteosarcoma but yielded conflicting results. Electronic databases updated to April 2013 were searched to find relevant studies. A meta-analysis was conducted with eligible studies which quantitatively evaluated the relationship between VEGF overexpression and survival of patients with osteosarcoma. Survival data were aggregated and quantitatively analyzed. We performed a meta-analysis of eight studies that evaluated the correlation between VEGF overexpression and survival in patients with osteosarcoma. Combined hazard ratios suggested that VEGF overexpression had an unfavorable impact on overall survival (hazard ratio (HR) = 1.75, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.21-2.28) in patients with osteosarcoma for overall populations, 2.37 (1.35-3.39) in Asian studies but not in non-Asian studies (HR = 1.51, 95% CI: 0.89-2.14). No significant heterogeneity was observed among all studies. VEGF overexpression indicates a poor prognosis for patients with osteosarcoma. However, the prognostic value of VEGF on survival in osteosarcoma patients still needs further large-scale prospective trials to be clarified.

A case report of apatinib in treating osteosarcoma with pulmonary metastases

“…[21] Serum VEGF levels are elevated in many primary tumors, including osteosarcoma. [22–25] A study also showed the overexpression of VEGF mRNA in a murine model of highly metastatic osteosarcoma.…”

Autocrine VEGF/VEGFR1 Signaling in a Subpopulation of Cells Associates with Aggressive Osteosarcoma

“…Although somewhat controversial, increased VEGF expression has been associated with poor outcomes in patients with osteosarcoma (4,29). Here we also show that chemotherapyna€ ve human osteosarcoma cells variably coexpress VEGF/ VEGFR1.…”

“…Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is overexpressed by the vast majority of solid tumors (4,5). VEGF includes multiple isoforms.…”

Expression profile of Twist, vascular endothelial growth factor and CD34 in patients with different phases of osteosarcoma

“…It was reported that the survival and proliferation of highly aggressive OS cells was dependent on autocrine (17). Numerous studies have suggested that VEGF expression may act as a biomarker of prognosis in OS patients (26)(27)(28). A previous study reported that patients with high VEGF expression had significantly reduced disease-free survival and overall survival rates compared with OS patients with low or negative VEGF expression (28).…”