Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2002 Nov 1;95(9):1923-30.
doi: 10.1002/cncr.10900.

Plasma vascular endothelial growth factor levels have prognostic significance in patients with acute myeloid leukemia but not in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes

Alvaro Aguayo  1 , Hagop M Kantarjian, Elihu H Estey, Francis J Giles, Srdan Verstovsek, Taghi Manshouri, Christy Gidel, Susan O'Brien, Michael J Keating, Maher Albitar
Affiliations
Free article

Plasma vascular endothelial growth factor levels have prognostic significance in patients with acute myeloid leukemia but not in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes

Alvaro Aguayo et al. Cancer. .
Free article

Abstract

Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) are positive regulators of angiogenesis. Increased levels in urine, serum, plasma, or malignant tissue have been associated with an adverse prognosis in patients with solid tumors.

Methods: The authors used an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to measure VEGF and bFGF levels in plasma samples from 99 patients with previously untreated myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) (n = 41 patients; 42%) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) (n = 58 patients; 58%) and compared the results with the results from a group of normal control participants.

Results: Increased expression levels of VEGF and bFGF were found in the plasma from patients with AML and MDS (P < 0.01) compared with the levels found in the control group. Plasma levels of VEGF in patients with AML or MDS were similar (median, 30.63 pg/mL and 34.41 pg/mL, respectively). There was no significant difference in bFGF levels between patients with AML and patients with MDS (median, 6.38 pg/mL and 6.98 pg/mL, respectively). Elevated levels of VEGF were associated with reduced survival (P = 0.02) in patients with AML as well as lower complete remission (CR) rates (P = 0.004). Elevated VEGF levels were not associated with reduced remission duration (CRD) in patients with AML. There was no correlation between VEGF levels and survival, CRD, or CR rates in patients with MDS. There was no correlation between bFGF levels and CR rates or survival in patients with either AML or MDS.

Conclusions: Plasma VEGF levels have prognostic significance in patients with AML. The lack of clinical relevance of VEGF levels in patients with MDS suggests some biologic difference between AML and MDS.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources