Angiogenic factors in small vell lung cancer (VEGF, VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2)

OBJECTIVES

Angiogenesis has an important role in metastasis. Vascular
endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is one of the angiogenic
factors that has the ability to increase the permeability of
capillary blood vessels. Its mitogenic and angiogenic activities
are specific for endothelial cells. VEGF was secreted
both from normal and tumor cells. Small cell lung cancer
(SCLC) is one of the main types of lung cancer that grows
and spreads quickly. In this study, we investigated VEGF and
its receptors VEGFR-1 (fms-related tyrosine kinase/FLT-
1) and VEGFR-2 (kinase insert domain receptor/KDR) in
SCLC.

METHODS

Our study group consisted of 60 SCLC patients and 20 healthy
subjects. The serum levels were measured by enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA).

RESULTS

Serum levels of VEGF (p<0.001) and its receptors (p<0.001)
were significantly higher in patients than controls before chemotherapy.

CONCLUSION

Our data indicate that coexpression of serum levels of VEGF
and its receptors can be used for deciding the antiangiogenic
therapy.

Keywords: Small cell lung cancer; vascular endothelial growth factor; VEGF receptors