Korean J Intern Med.  2003 Dec;18(4):207-211.

The Relationship between Serum VEGF Concentration and Prognosis of Lung Cancer

• Park SH
• Lee SS

Abstract

BACKGROUND
VEGF is an important factor for angiogenesis. Although many previous studies have reported an increased serum VEGF concentration in various malignant tumors, there are few studies on the relationship between serum VEGF concentration and its prognosis. This study investigated whether serum VEGF concentration is a prognostic indicator for lung cancer. METHODS: Using the ELISA kit, we measured the serum VEGF concentrations of 86 patients diagnosed with lung cancer on histologic examination. With a cut-off value of 686 pg/mL, the patients were classified as low-concentration (< 686 pg/mL, n=58) or high-concentration (> or=686 pg/mL, n=28) based on their mean serum VEGF concentration values to compare survival rates, and serum VEGF concentrations for different histologic types and stages. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in serum VEGF concentration based on stage and histologic type between the two groups. Moreover, there was no significant difference in survival rate between the high-concentration and low-concentration groups (p=0.86). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that serum VEGF concentration is not associated with the prognosis of lung cancer.

Keyword

VEGF; Angiogenesis; Lung cancer

MeSH Terms

Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung/*blood/*mortality/pathology
Female
Human
Lung Neoplasms/*blood/*mortality/pathology
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasm Staging
Prognosis
Retrospective Studies
Sensitivity and Specificity
Survival Rate
Tumor Markers, Biological/*blood
Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A/*blood