Objectives: A longitudinal study was designed to quantify tumor tissue content of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) and to evaluate its prognostic value in respect to the relapse-free and overall survivals.
Methods: Sixty-nine patients with CRC were followed from the time of diagnosis of primary tumor for at least 3 years after surgery. Quantitative evaluation of VEGF content in tissue was performed on whole protein extracts obtained from biopsies of histologically confirmed neoplastic tissues and corresponding mucosa, histologically confirmed as 'normal'.
Results: VEGF levels were higher in CRC tissues, median 141 pg/mg of protein (interquartile range 70-375), compared with corresponding normal mucosa, median 45 pg/mg of protein (interquartile range 22-78; p < 0.0001), and were associated with the stage of disease (p = 0.035) by multivariate analysis. Tumor VEGF content was higher in relapsing patients compared with those who remained disease free (p < 0.001) and was independently associated with relapse-free survival (p = 0.044). Cox's proportional hazard survival analysis demonstrated that VEGF (p = 0.035) had an independent prognostic value in respect to overall survival.
Conclusions: Elevated tumor VEGF content may discriminate between early and late stages of CRC and may be used as an independent prognostic parameter in the management of these patients.