SIGNIFICANCE OF SINGLE-NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISMS 2578C>A AND +936C>T IN THE VEGF GENE FOR EFFICIENCY EVALUAT ION OF ANTICANCER IMMUNOTHERAPY IN PAT IENTS WITH METASTAT IC SKIN MELANOMA

Increased VEGF levels in cancer patients may be associated with decreased number of dendritic cells (DCs) and lower DC function. We investigated whether VEGF gene polymorphisms -2578C>A (rs699947) and +936C>T (rs3025039) are associated with efficacy of autologous DC-based immunotherapy in patients with malignant melanoma. Evaluation of VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 expression on mature monocyte-derived DC revealed a decreased VEGFR-1 level (18.9±0.7% on peripheral blood monocytes, as compared to 6.3±0.6% on mature DCs) and non-changed VEGFR-2 expression (13.1±0.4% and 15.9±0.4%, respectively). The АА genotype frequency of -2578C>A (rs699947) polymorphism of VEGF gene was 46.1%. АС heterozygous state was found in 38.5%, and СС, in 15.4% of cases. The VEGF -2578 AC and AA genotypes were directly associated with progression-free survival and efficacy of treatment. The median progression-free survival of patients with -2578 AA and AC genotypes was a significantly longer (8.4 months), as compared with that of patients with CC genotypes (2.7 months), p = 0.002. The established relationship between genotype and efficacy of immunotherapy can be used to develop modern methods for predicting melanoma progression and to personalize immunotherapy including a combination with antiangiogenic therapy.