Aim: To further evaluate the prognostic significance of pre-treatment serum and pleural fluid levels of vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) presenting with malignant pleural effusion (MPE).
Patients and methods: Forty consecutive newly-diagnosed patients with NSCLC with MPE at presentation but without distant metastases were prospectively enrolled. The prognostic value of serum and pleural fluid VEGF levels for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) was assessed by Cox regression analysis.
Results: The median serum VEGF level was significantly higher in patients compared to healthy controls (p<0.001). Serum VEGF higher than 375 pg/ml, pleural fluid VEGF greater than the median value and the presence of progressive disease were all significantly associated with reduced OS and PFS, both in univariate and multivariate analyses.
Conclusion: The results of our study suggest that increased pre-treatment serum and pleural fluid levels of VEGF may be independent predictors of a worse survival in patients with advanced-stage NSCLC.
Keywords: Angiogenesis; VEGF; non-small cell lung cancer; pleural fluid; serum.
Copyright© 2015 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.