Wang Kai, Peng Hong-Ling, Li Long-Kun
Department of Urology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chengdu, China.
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2012;13(11):5665-9. doi: 10.7314/apjcp.2012.13.11.5665.
The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mediates vasculogenesis and angiogenesis through promoting endothelial cell growth, migration and mitosis, and has involvement in cancer pathogenesis, progression and metastasis. However, the prognostic value of VEGF in patients with prostate cancer remains controversial.
The aim of our study was to evaluate the prognostic value of VEGF in prostate cancer, and summarise the results of related research on VEGF.
In accordance with an established search strategy, 11 studies with 1,529 patients were included in our meta-analysis. The correlation of VEGF-expression with overall survival and progression-free survival was evaluated by hazard ratio, either given or calculated.
The studies were categorized by introduction of the author, demographic data in each study, prostate cancer-relatived information, VEGF cut-off value, VEGF subtype, methods of hazard ratio (HR) estimation and its 95% confidence interval (CI). High VEGF-expression in prostate cancer is a poor prognostic factor with statistical significance for OS (HR=2.32, 95%CI: 1.40-3.24). However, high VEGF-expression showed no effect on poor PFS (HR=1.30, 95%CI: 0.88-1.72). Using Begg's, Egger's test and funnel plots, we confirmed lack of publication bias in our analysis.
VEGF might be regarded as a prognostic maker for prostate cancer, as supported by our meta-analysis. To achieve a more definitive conclusion enabling the clinical use of VEGF in prostate cancer, we need more high-quality interventional original studies following agreed research approaches or standards.
血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）通过促进内皮细胞生长、迁移和有丝分裂来介导血管生成和血管新生，并参与癌症的发病机制、进展和转移。然而，VEGF在前列腺癌患者中的预后价值仍存在争议。
本研究旨在评估VEGF在前列腺癌中的预后价值，并总结VEGF相关研究的结果。
按照既定的检索策略，我们的荟萃分析纳入了11项研究，共1529例患者。通过给定或计算的风险比评估VEGF表达与总生存期和无进展生存期的相关性。
这些研究按照作者介绍、每项研究的人口统计学数据、前列腺癌相关信息、VEGF临界值、VEGF亚型、风险比（HR）估计方法及其95%置信区间（CI）进行分类。前列腺癌中高VEGF表达是总生存期（OS）的不良预后因素，具有统计学意义（HR=2.32，95%CI：1.40-3.24）。然而，高VEGF表达对无进展生存期（PFS）不良无影响（HR=1.30，95%CI：0.88-1.72）。使用Begg检验、Egger检验和漏斗图，我们证实了分析中不存在发表偏倚。
我们的荟萃分析支持VEGF可被视为前列腺癌的预后标志物。为了得出更明确的结论，以便在前列腺癌中临床应用VEGF，我们需要更多遵循商定研究方法或标准的高质量干预性原创研究。
