Changes of serum VEGF in cervical squamous cell carcinoma before and after chemotherapy

Abstract

Objective To explore the feasibility of applying the vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) to predicting and evaluating cervical cancer chemotherapy by investigating the changes of VEGF before and after chemotherapy,so as to guide the rational treatment. Methods Using enzymelinked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) to detect and compare serum VEGF levels in 60 cases of cervical squamous cell carcinoma and 20 healthy women. Results Levels of serum VEGF in cervical carcinoma were significantly higher than those of normal healthy women (P<0.01),and the serum VEGF values of cervical cancer in stage Ⅰ were lower than those in stage Ⅱ(P<0.05).Expressions of serum VEGF in cervical cancer patients significantly increased after surgery compared with that before surgery(P< 0.01),and decreased significantly after postoperative chemotherapy compared with that after surgery (P<0.01),but the serum VEGF levels in stage Ⅰ cervical cancer patients after postoperative chemotherapy showed no significant difference compared with that before surgery (P<0.05),while those in stage Ⅱ a and Ⅱ b cervical cancer patients after postoperative chemotherapy were lower than those before surgery(P<0.05).The expressions of serum VEGF in stage Ⅱb cervical cancer patients after neoadjuvant chemotherapy(NACT) were lower than those before NACT (P<0.05).Conclusions VEGF can be used as an indicator for forecasting chemotherapy effects in cervical cancer and for determining whether to reinforce chemotherapy and postoperative chemotherapy regimen. Key words: Cervical cancer; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Chemotherapy