Association of the serum vascular endothelial growth factor levels with benign prostate hyperplasia and prostate malignancies

Mohammad Reza Sharif; Amirreza Shaabani; Hossein Mahmoudi; Hassan Nikoueinejad; Hossein Akbari; Behzad Einollahi

doi:10.5812/numonthly.14778

Association of the serum vascular endothelial growth factor levels with benign prostate hyperplasia and prostate malignancies

Nephrourol Mon. 2014 Apr 27;6(3):e14778. doi: 10.5812/numonthly.14778. eCollection 2014 May.

Authors

Mohammad Reza Sharif¹, Amirreza Shaabani², Hossein Mahmoudi², Hassan Nikoueinejad³, Hossein Akbari⁴, Behzad Einollahi³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pediatrics, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
² Department of Urology, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.
³ Department of Nephrology and Urology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IR Iran.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, IR Iran.

Abstract

Background: Recently, the development of new biomarkers as prognostic and predictive markers in prostate cancer has been crucial.

Objectives: This study was aimed to determine whether serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels would be a prognostic marker or risk assessment factor in patients with prostate cancer and to investigate whether it could differentiate cancerous tissue from benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH).

Patients and methods: We enrolled 44 patients with prostate cancer, 57 patients with BPH, and 57 healthy individuals. Serum VEGF levels was measured by ELISA and was compared among all groups; then, its correlation with PSA and Gleason score in cancerous group was assessed. In addition, by using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and area under curve (AUC), we determined the sensitivity and specificity of VEGF as well as combined variable of VEGF and PSA as a diagnostic marker of prostate cancer.

Results: Serum VEGF level was significantly higher in patients with prostate cancer in comparison to the other groups (P value < 0.001); however, it was not different between BPH and control groups. Only in cancerous group a significant correlation between VEGF and PSA was found (r = 0.425, P = 0.004). Assessing the risk of prostate cancer, we found a powerful correlation between the VEGF alone as well as the combination of VEGF and PSA with prostate cancer.

Conclusions: VEGF may be a diagnostic biomarker of prostate cancer. In addition, it may differentiate the cancerous tissue from BPH. We suggest that VEGF combined with PSA may be used as a screening test of prostate cancer.

Keywords: BPH; Prostatic Neoplasms; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A.