Quantitative analysis of basic fibroblast growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor in human colorectal cancer

Abstract

Summary Tumour growth is angiogenesis dependent. Some authors suggest a prognostic role of microvessel count in colorectal cancer. We tested the role of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the switch to the angiogenic phenotype in 35 patients with colorectal cancer at different stages of disease. We evaluated the two angiogenic factors, by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), in tumour, peritumoral mucosa, pathological mesenteric and peripheral blood. We used ten endoscopic intestinal biopsies and ten peripheral blood samples from healthy subjects as control. bFGF was significantly lower in tumour tissues and in peritumoral mucosas than in healthy mucosas, whereas VEGF was up-regulated in tumours but not in peritumoral mucosa. Both angiogenic factors were greatly increased in mesenteric blood. VEGF tumour and serum levels were significantly correlated with the stage of disease. bFGF tumour and serum concentration were not correlated with the stage of disease. The high levels of bFGF in mesenteric blood suggest that this growth factor might be abnormally released from tumour tissue and peritumoral mucosa and could function as an early effector in the switch to the angiogenic phenotype. In contrast, VEGF, whose levels show a significant correlation with the stage of disease, could act in a following step, supporting tumour progression.

Arterio-venous gradients of IL-6, plasma and serum VEGF and D-dimers in human cancer

“…This contradicts the common notion that serum VEGF-A is mostly derived from spill over of tumour cell produced VEGF-A in patients with cancer. Landriscina et al (1998) also did not find significantly higher serum levels of VEGF-A in mesenteric blood compared with peripheral blood in patients with colorectal cancer. This finding was recently confirmed in patients with rectal cancer (Werther et al, 2001).…”

The Angiogenic Switch Molecule, Secreted FGF-Binding Protein, an Indicator of Early Stages of Pancreatic and Colorectal Adenocarcinoma

“…As in many other tumors, several angiogenic regulators have been recognized in colon cancer, including VEGF, PDGF, thrombospondin, and angiopoietins (74,75). Likewise, overexpression of FGF and FGFRs in colon cancer cells and tissues, as well as increase of FGF-2 serum levels in patients with advanced colon cancer, have been extensively reported (76)(77)(78)(79)(80)(81).…”

Platelet‐activating factor and liver metastasis of colorectal cancer

“…[23][24][25][26][27] We thus investigated if tissue PAF values might be correlated with those of VEGF and bFGF; these angiogenic growth factors being detected by specific ELISA assays (DuoSet, R&D Systems Europe, Oxon, U.K.) as previously described. 28 Regression analysis highlighted a significant link between PAF values and those of VEGF (r ϭ 0.34; p ϭ 0.009) and bFGF (r ϭ 0.49; p ϭ 0.0001). VEGF and bFGF are important angiogenic growth factors that enhance the metastatic potential of cancer 33 in several animal models of cancer.…”