Angiogenic factors in small veil 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.