Abstract
7531 Background: high blood levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) appear to be associated with a poor prognosis in advanced cancer, probably as a consequence of its angiogenic and immunosuppressive effects. The prognostic significance of serum VEGF levels and its variation during cancer treatment is still unknown. Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical usefulness of active serum vascular endothelial growth factor (sVEGF-A) levels in metastatic malignant melanoma patients and to investigate the possible relationship between sVEGF-A variations and clinical response during biochemotherapy. Patients and Treatment: The study included 73 patients with a fully documented history of metastatic malignant melanoma. Biochemotherapy consisted of Cisplatinum, rIL-2 and Alpha-interferon in two induction cycles. The assessment of clinical response was performed according to WHO criteria. Sixty seven patients were evaluable: 43 % (29/67) were responding (RC&RP) and 57 % were non-responding (13 SD and 25 PD). Methods: active serum VEGF-A concentrations were measured by an enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the serum of 26 healthy controls and in 75 MMM patients, before and at the end of treatment. Results: pretreatment serum VEGF-A levels in MMM patients were significantly higher than those in controls (p=0.0017). No significant association was noted between sVEGF-A levels and gender, age and LDH level. Serum VEGF-A levels were higher in patients with high tumor burden as compared to patients with low tumor burden. Before treatment, the sVEGF-A level was not significantly different between R and NR patients; at the end of biochemotherapy, an increase of VEGF-A level was correlated to disease progression (r′=0.53,p=0.01) and a decrease of serum VEGF-A levels was correlated to the objective response to treatment (r′=0.43, p=0.02). Conclusion: these results suggest that changes in sVEGF-A levels may represent a useful biomarker to predict the effect of biochemotherapy in terms of clinical response in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma. No significant financial relationships to disclose.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
