World Journal of Oncology Research  (Volume 4)

Serkan Degirmencioglu, Erhan Ugurlu and Arzu Yaren

Objective: Due to poor prognosis in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), new markers and more effective treatment methods are needed in the monitoring of the disease. The purpose of our study is to evaluate the clinical significance of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) levels in patients with advanced NSCLC on prognosis and survival.

Materials and method: Sixty seven patients (62 men and 5 women) and 20 healthy volunteers (16 men and 4 women) were included in our study. The demographic and laboratory data and serum VEGF levels of two groups were compared.

Results: A statistically significantly high level of VEGF (p=0.0001) was detected in patients compared to the control group. The high level of serum VEGF has a statistically significant relationship with the short disease-free survival time (p=0.05). While the median progression free survival (PFS) time in patients with high VEGF levels was 157 days, the median PFS time in those with normal VEGF levels reached up to 340 days. This difference was statistically significant (p=0.003). When overall survival (OS) times was evaluated, it was 472 days in patients with low VEGF levels and 180 days in those with high levels and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.001).

Conclusion: In our study, the serum VEGF levels were determined to be statistically significant increased in the NSCLC patient group compared to the control group. In addition, a significant inverse relationship was discovered between the serum VEGF level and all survival times in the NSCLC patient group.