School of Basic Medical Sciences, Institute of Pathology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.
Gansu Provincial Hospital, Lanzhou, China.
Med Oncol. 2023 Apr 8;40(5):140. doi: 10.1007/s12032-023-01950-w.
Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is an adhesive ligand critical for maintaining hemostasis. However, it has also been increasingly recognized for its role in cancer development because it has been shown to mediate the adhesion of cancer cells to endothelial cells, promote the epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and enhance angiogenesis. We have previously shown that gastric cancer cells synthesize VWF, which mediates the interaction between the cancer and endothelial cells to promote cancer growth. Here, we report results from a clinical observational study that demonstrate the association of VWF in plasma and on the surface of extracellular vesicles (EVs) with the pathological characteristics of gastric cancer. We found that patients with gastric cancer had elevated and intrinsically hyperadhesive VWF in their peripheral blood samples. VWF was detected on the surface of EVs from cancer cells, platelets, and endothelial cells. Higher levels of these VWF-bound EVs were associated with cancer aggression and poor clinical outcomes for patients. These findings suggest that VWF EVs from different cell types serve collectively as a new class of biomarkers for the outcome assessment of gastric cancer patients.
血管性血友病因子（VWF）是一种黏附配体，对维持止血至关重要。然而，它在癌症发展中的作用也越来越受到重视，因为它已被证明可以介导癌细胞与内皮细胞的黏附，促进上皮-间充质转化，并增强血管生成。我们之前已经表明，胃癌细胞合成 VWF，VWF 介导了癌症和内皮细胞之间的相互作用，从而促进了癌症的生长。在这里，我们报告了一项临床观察性研究的结果，该研究表明血浆中和细胞外囊泡（EVs）表面的 VWF 与胃癌的病理特征有关。我们发现，胃癌患者的外周血样本中存在升高且固有高黏附性的 VWF。VWF 被检测到存在于癌细胞、血小板和内皮细胞来源的 EVs 表面。这些 VWF 结合的 EVs 水平越高，与癌症侵袭性和患者不良临床结局的相关性越强。这些发现表明，来自不同细胞类型的 VWF-EVs 共同作为胃癌患者预后评估的一类新的生物标志物。
