High Expression of Bone Marrow VEGF in Patients with Acute Leukemia and Its Correlation with Prognosis

Abstract

To detect the level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in bone marrow of patients with non-M3 acute leukemia (AL), and estimate its relationship with prognosis. From January 2016 to December 2019, 114 patients with AL in department of Hematology, Wuwei People's Hospital were selected as study group, and 25 healthy volunteers were enrolled as control group. The concentration of VEGF in bone marrow was detected by ELISA. The patients were divided into high and low concentration group according to the level of VEGF. The overall survival (OS) and event-free survival (EFS) were compared among different groups. The level of VEGF in patients with AL was significantly higher than that in the control group. The median OS and EFS in the low concentration group was 34.5 and 32 months, respectively, while, in the high concentration group was 30 and 26 months, respectively. The differences between the two groups were statistically significant (P=0.010). There were significant differences in OS rate (P=0.035) and EFS rate (P=0.026) between low and high concentration group. Multivariate analysis showed that high VEGF concentration was an independent risk factor affecting OS (HR=2.619, 95%CI 1.070-6.406, P=0.035) and EFS (HR=2.221, 95%CI 1.074-4.552, P=0.031) in AL patients. VEGF highly expresses in the bone marrow of patients with AL at initial diagnosis and relapse, and shows adverse effects on the prognosis.