Influence of Serum VEGF Levels on Therapeutic Outcome andDiagnosis/Prognostic Value in Patients with Cervical Cancer

Abstract

<br/><b>Objective</b>: To explore the influence of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) level on therapeuticoutcome and diagnosis/prognostic value in patients with cervical cancer. Materials and <br/><b>Methods</b>: A total of 37patients diagnosed with cervical cancer by biopsy were selected and treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy.Double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was adopted before treatment toassess VEGF levels, and its relationships with clinicopathological features and short-term therapeutic effectswere analyzed. <br/><b>Results</b>: The median VEGF level in 37 patients before treatment was 647.15 (393.35~1125.16) pg/mL. Serum VEGF levels in patients aged <50 years, in International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics(FIGO) stage Ⅲa~Ⅳa, with lymph node metastasis and tumor size >4 cm were significantly increased (P<0.05).The complete remission (CR) rate was 48.7% (18/37), partial remission (PR) rate was 35.1% (13/37), stabledisease (SD) rate was 13.5% (5/37) and progressive disease (PD) rate was 2.70% (1/37), so the objective remissionrate (ORR) after treatment was 83.8% (31/37). Logistic regression analysis showed that tumor size and serumVEGF level before treatment were independent risk factors affecting the therapeutic outcome, and the higherthe level of serum VEGF, the worse the prognosis when tumor size>4 cm. Some 56.8% of patients manifestedwith myelosuppression, 37.8% with leucopenia, 24.3% with thrombocytopenia, 5.41% with diarrhea, 46.0%with nausea and vomiting, 21.6% with hair loss and 8.11% with hepatic and renal injury during the treatment.<br/><b>Conclusions</b>: Serum VEGF level may reflect the degree of malignancy of cervical cancer and predict therapeuticeffect, which is of great importance to cancer diagnosis and prognosis.