Plasma levels of osteopontin and vascular endothelial growth factor in association with clinical features and parameters of tumor burden in patients with multiple myeloma.

Toni Valković,Nives Jonjić,Emina Babarović,Antica Duletić-Načinović,Irena Seili-Bekafigo,Sanja Pećanić,Damir Nemet,Sanja Štifter,Ksenija Lučin,Merica Aralica

doi:10.1155/2014/513170

Abstract

The aim of this pilot study was to determine the plasma levels of osteopontin (OPN) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and find possible association between them and main clinical features and parameters of tumor burden in patient with multiple myeloma (MM). Plasma levels of OPN and VEGF were determined in 44 newly diagnosed MM patients and 24 healthy persons by ELISA method. These values were compared with the presence of anemia, renal dysfunction, and bone lesions as myeloma related clinical manifestations and with serum beta-2 microglobulin and Durie-Salmon clinical stage as prognosticators related to tumor mass. The value of OPN was significantly higher in MM patients with evident bone lesions (P = 0.03) and there was also a positive correlation with serum beta-2 microglobulin (r = 0.366; P = 0.04). Furthermore, patients with lower Durie-Salmon stage had significantly lower OPN and VEGF levels (P = 0.05; P = 0.04, resp.). Our preliminary results found positive association between plasma level of OPN, tumor burden, and bone destruction. Further analysis should provide information about the possible use of OPN as useful clinical biomarker for monitoring bone disease and tumor mass, as well as a prognostic factor, or a possible target for pharmacological intervention.

Highlights

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a common haematological neoplasm with heterogeneous clinical manifestations, course of disease, response to treatment, and survival [1]
Plasma levels of OPN and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were determined in 44 newly diagnosed MM patients and 24 healthy persons by ELISA method. These values were compared with the presence of anemia, renal dysfunction, and bone lesions as myeloma related clinical manifestations and with serum beta-2 microglobulin and Durie-Salmon clinical stage as prognosticators related to tumor mass
In contrast with VEGF, plasma OPN levels were significantly higher in patients with evident bone lesions (P = 0.03; Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

Multiple myeloma (MM) is a common haematological neoplasm with heterogeneous clinical manifestations, course of disease, response to treatment, and survival [1]. This unpredictable biological behaviour is a consequence of remarkably interesting, complex, and still unclear biological interactions between neoplastic plasma cells and other components of bone marrow microenvironment. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is considered one of the most potent angiogenic promoters in many solid tumours [2,3,4,5,6]. It plays an angiogenic and tumorigenic role in the pathophysiology of MM [7,8,9], but the significance of its plasma level is still not well recognized. VEGF is produced by malignant plasma cells, as well as various inflammatory and stromal cells, acting through autocrine and/or paracrine crosstalk via their VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 receptors [7, 8, 10, 11]

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Conclusion