Serum Levels of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) as a Prognostic Factor in Renal Cell Carcinoma

Abstract

Purpose: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is recognized as a potent constituent of the vascularization and growth of solid tumors. We assessed the serum levels of VEGF and we evaluated its correlation to the clinicopathologic findings and clinical outcome of patients with renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Materials and Methods: Serum samples were collected before surgery from patients with RCC. The levels of serum VEGF were assessed by using quantitative enzyme immunoassay. Comparison of the serum VEGF level with the tumor stage, grade, cell type and clinical outcome was performed, and the survival rate between the RCC patients above and below the mean VEGF level was evaluated. Results: The mean follow-up was 5.1 years. The serum VEGF level was significantly higher in the patients with RCC (mean: 497pg/ml) than that in the controls (mean: 211pg/ml) (p<0.001). The serum VEGF level was correlated with the tumor size, the pathologic T stage and the clinical stage and histologic nuclear grade, but not with the histologic subtype. Patients with a lower VEGF level (<497pg/ml) showed longer survival (p=0.0207 on univariate analysis, p=0.04 on multivariate analysis). Conclusions: Our study indicated that the serum VEGF level was significantly correlated with the clinical or pathologic stage, the nuclear grade and adverse survival. These results suggest that the serum VEGF level could be a comparable prognostic factor to the tumor stage and grade. (Korean J Urol 2007;48:1219-1223) 󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏󰠏