Serum VEGF And Endostatin Levels In Lung Cancer Patients And Their Clinical Significance

Introduction: The generation of new blood vessels is important for tumor growth, VEGF is an angiogenesis factor and Endostatin is an endogenous angiogenesis inhibitor.They are associated with the progress and prognosis of lung cancer. Anti-angiogenesis therapy for tumor is important supplement for tumor therapy at present. The effect of chemotherapy-endostar in lung cancer patients is generally acknowledged, but the study of indicators to monitor its efficacy is very few,and no aggregate analysis on serum VEGF and Endostatin levels in lung cancer patients and their clinical significance.Objective: To determine serum levels of VEGF and Endostatin (ES) in lung cancer patients and level changes with treatments including surgery, chemotherapy, or a combination of chemotherapy and Endostar. The association of VEGF and ES with the disease progression was further evaluated.Methods: Serum VEGF and ES levels were detected by enzyme linker immunosorbant assay (ELISA) in 20 healthy volunteers and 80 patients with lung cancer.Results: Serum VEGF and ES levels in lung cancer patients were significantly higher than those in healthy volunteers (P <0.01). VEGF and ES were closely associated with the sizes and clinical stages of the tumor. However, no correlation was found between VEGF/ES levels and histological classifications of the tumor (P > 0.05). Serum VEGF levels on day 1 post-surgery were significantly higher than pre-surgery levels in lung cancer patients (P<0.01). Additionally, VEGF levels on day 7 post-surgery were significantly higher than those on day 1 post-surgery and pre-surgery (P<0.01). Serum ES levels on day 1 post-chemotherapy were significantly higher than those at pre-chemotherapy and on day 14 post-chemotherapy in patients who responded to chemotherapy (P<0.05). In the same group, serum VEGF on day 14 post-chemotherapy was significantly higher than that on day 1 post–chemotherapy and pre-chemotherapy (P<0.05). In patients that responded to the combined chemotherapy and Endostar, serum VEGF levels on day 1 post-chemotherapy were significantly lower than levels at pre-treatment (P < 0.05). Moreover, the VEGF levels on day 14 post-treatment were significantly lower than those on day 1 post-treatment and pre-treatment (P<0.05). The response rates were 56.67% and 26.67% in the chemotherapy-Endostar group and the chemotherapy alone group, respectively. VEGF levels in patients that responded to chemotherapy-Endostar were significantly lower than patients responding to chemotherapy alone (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Serum levels of VEGF and ES were associated with tumor sizes, clinical stages, and treatments (surgery and chemotherapy) in lung cancer patients. VEGF and ES were not associated with histological classifications of the tumor. Chemotherapy plus Endostar was better than chemotherapy alone in the treatment of lung cancer. Our results suggest that VEGF may be a valuable biomarker in lung cancer patients.