Department of Medical Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, 64173Yeditepe University, İstanbul, Turkey.
Department of Medical Oncology, 64005Hacettepe University, Hacettepe Cancer Institute, Ankara, Turkey.
Technol Cancer Res Treat. 2020 Jan-Dec;19:1533033820971677. doi: 10.1177/1533033820971677.
Neovascularization plays a crucial pathogenic role in tumor development and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) is a key signaling element that drives angiogenesis, thereby facilitating hepatocellular cancer (HCC) growth and metastasis. We aimed to define the relationship between serum VEGF-A levels and clinical outcomes in a cohort of Turkish patients with HCC.
We enrolled and prospectively followed 84 patients with HCC in our study. Serum VEGF-A levels were measured and we assessed the association between VEGF-A levels and clinical features.
Forty-eight patients had cirrhosis while 35 patients were noncirrhotic. Serum VEGF-A levels were significantly lower in HCC patients with cirrhosis compared to non-cirrhotic HCC patients (p = 0.03).In terms of viral hepatitis subtype, 36 (%42.8) of patients were hepatitis B virus (HBV) positive and 8 (%9.5) of patients were hepatitis C virus (HCV) positive. Patients with serum VEGF-A levels ≥100 pg/mL had significantly lower OS rates than patients with serum VEGF-A level <100 pg/mL (p = 0.01). The OS rates were 5.8 and 14.2 months, respectively (p = 0.02). The median OS was 7.38 months (95% CI: 5.89-13.79 months). We observed a significant relationship between serum VEGF-A level and tumor size. Patients with tumor size ≤ 5cm had lower VEGF-A levels than patients with VEGF-A levels <5 cm. The VEGF-A levels were 132.7 and 342.1 pg/mL, respectively (p < 0.001). The median follow-up was 32 months.
Serum VEGF-A level, a biological marker of angiogenesis, is an independent predictor of survival in patients with HCC. Serum VEGF-A levels may be utilized to predict response to treatment targeting serum VEGF-A in patients with HCC.
血管新生在肿瘤发生发展中起关键作用，血管内皮生长因子（VEGF-A）是驱动血管生成的关键信号分子，从而促进肝癌（HCC）的生长和转移。我们旨在定义土耳其 HCC 患者队列中血清 VEGF-A 水平与临床结局之间的关系。
我们在研究中纳入并前瞻性随访了 84 例 HCC 患者。测量了血清 VEGF-A 水平，并评估了 VEGF-A 水平与临床特征之间的关系。
48 例患者有肝硬化，35 例患者无肝硬化。与非肝硬化 HCC 患者相比，肝硬化 HCC 患者的血清 VEGF-A 水平显著降低（p=0.03）。在病毒性肝炎亚型方面，36%（42.8%）的患者为乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）阳性，8%（9.5%）的患者为丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）阳性。血清 VEGF-A 水平≥100pg/mL 的患者的总生存期（OS）率明显低于血清 VEGF-A 水平<100pg/mL 的患者（p=0.01）。OS 率分别为 5.8 和 14.2 个月（p=0.02）。中位 OS 为 7.38 个月（95%CI：5.89-13.79 个月）。我们观察到血清 VEGF-A 水平与肿瘤大小之间存在显著关系。肿瘤直径≤5cm 的患者血清 VEGF-A 水平低于肿瘤直径<5cm 的患者。VEGF-A 水平分别为 132.7 和 342.1pg/mL（p<0.001）。中位随访时间为 32 个月。
血清 VEGF-A 水平作为血管生成的生物标志物，是 HCC 患者生存的独立预测因子。血清 VEGF-A 水平可用于预测 HCC 患者针对血清 VEGF-A 治疗的反应。
