Background: Serum vascular endothelial growth factor has been associated with stage of disease in colorectal cancer patients. We investigated whether preoperative serum vascular endothelial growth factor can provide any relevant clinical prognostic information during long-term follow-up of colorectal cancer patients.
Methods: Preoperative serum samples of 79 colorectal cancer patients and serum of 28 healthy controls were stored at -80 degrees C until later vascular endothelial growth factor analysis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique and carcinoembryogenic antigen concentration measurement were performed. There were three patient groups for comparison: 21 patients with overt liver metastases, 18 patients who developed recurrent disease after initial curative surgery, and 40 patients who remained disease-free for at least five years.
Results: We could not demonstrate any significant difference in serum vascular endothelial growth factor values between the patient groups and controls, nor between the three patient groups (Mann-Whitney U test). There was no relevant correlation between serum vascular endothelial growth factor and carcinoembryogenic antigen concentrations (Pearson r = 0.2; P = 0.07).
Conclusion: Although vascular endothelial growth factor has been shown in previous studies to be a potent inducer of angiogenesis and metastases formation, the present data demonstrate that preoperative serum vascular endothelial growth factor concentration does not provide any relevant individual prognostic information in patients with colorectal cancer.