Changes and Prognostic Value of Serum Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Patients with Differentiated Thyroid Cancer

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the changes and the prognostic value of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Subjects and Methods: A total of 79 patients with DTC and 30 healthy individuals were divided into four groups: (1) a healthy control group (n = 30); (2) DTC without recurrence (n = 35; 23 papillary, 12 follicular); (3) DTC with local recurrence (n = 24; 15 papillary, 9 follicular), and (4) DTC with lung metastasis (n = 20; 13 papillary, 7 follicular). Serum VEGF and thyroglobulin levels were measured in all patients. Results: Serum levels of VEGF were significantly higher in the lung metastasis group than in the other three groups (p < 0.05). Serum thyroglobulin concentration positively correlated with VEGF expression (r = 0.8678, p < 0.001) in patients with thyroid cancer recurrence. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that clinical staging (OR = 1.851, 95% CI 1.04–3.47; p = 0.038), noncompliance with postoperative thyroxin replacement therapy (OR = 1.935, 95% CI 1.03–3.65; p = 0.042) and postoperative levels of thyroglobulin (OR = 1.892, 95% CI 1.01–3.56, p = 0.032) were independent predictors for thyroid cancer recurrence. Every additional 100 ng/l of serum VEGF levels increased the risk of thyroid cancer recurrence by 20.3%; but this did not reach statistical significance (OR = 1.203, 95% CI 0.95–1.52; p = 0.125). Conclusions: Serum VEGF increased in patients with recurrent thyroid cancer following surgical therapies. The predictive value of serum VEGF requires further investigation.

Expression of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor and Its Receptors in Thyroid Nodular Hyperplasia and Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Tertiary Health Care Centre Based Study

“…VEGF inhibitors have been used to block the angiogenesis and to induce apoptosis in thyroid cancer (Peng et al, 2015). Both VEGF and VEGFR have been observed to have prominent prognostic association in differentiated thyroid cancer (Zhou et al, 2012;Abdel-Rahman, 2015). Tyrosine kinase inhibitors which targeted on VEGF and VEGFR have been used in the therapeutic management of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (Fallahi et al, 2013).…”

Evaluation of Serum Vascular Adhesion Protein-1 as a Potential Biomarker in Thyroid Cancer

“…Clinical characteristics and demographic data were collected by retrospective chart review. Patients with the following conditions were excluded: (a) autoimmune disease; (b) coexistence of other cancers in addition to thyroid cancer; (c) pregnancy; (d) positive thyroglobulin antibody, because the serum thyroglobulin concentration is often subject to interference of thyroglobulin antibodies, leading to false-negative occurrence [ 1 ]. Physical exam, biopsy, and imaging tests (ultrasound, CT scan, MRI, chest X-ray, and nuclear medicine scans) were performed in each patient before surgery.…”

“…Thyroid cancer is one of the most common head and neck cancers with increasing incidences all over the world [ 1 ]. The five-year survival rate across all the stages is 97%, but they are different among the stages.…”

The roles of beta-adrenergic receptors in tumorigenesis and the possible use of beta-adrenergic blockers for cancer treatment: possible genetic and cell-signaling mechanisms

“…Vascular changes associated with angiogenesis typically occur in cancer, but they have also been reported in inflammatory diseases. Statistically significant increases in VEGF expression relative to normal tissue have been reported in gastric cancer tissue,125 urothelial cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder,126 pancreatic cancer,87 thyroid cancer,127 esophagogastric cancer,128 gastric cancer,129 osteosarcoma,130 HCC,131 inflammatory breast cancer,132 and ovarian cancer 133. VEGF polymorphisms were found to be a critical risk factor for genetic susceptibility to lung cancers in the ethnic Han Chinese of North China 134.…”