Pre-operative Plasma Levels of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A, C and D in Patients with Colorectal Cancer

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-C and VEGF-D are angiogenic and lymphangiogenic members of the VEGF family of growth factors. Increased VEGF-C or VEGF-D expression in human tumours may be associated with lymph-node metastasis and lymphatic invasion. Circulating plasma levels of VEGF-A, VEGF-C and VEGF-D were measured in patients with colorectal cancer, and assessed for their usefulness as a diagnostic tool for determining lymph-node metastasis. One hundred and twenty patients with colorectal cancer and 50 healthy control patients were included in the study. Plasma growth-factor levels were assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. No significant differences in plasma VEGF-C or VEGF-D levels were seen between patients subgrouped by clinicopathological variables. In particular, there were no differences in median plasma VEGF-C or VEGF-D level in patients with and without lymph-node involvement (VEGF-C: 11.2U/ml [range, 4.9–51.9] vs 9.9U/ml [4.4–93.4U/ml]; P=0.90; VEGF-D: 335pg/ml [113–1102] vs 316.5pg/ml [0–1343]; P=0.68). Circulating plasma levels of VEGF-C and VEGF-D do not allow pre-operative identification of lymph-node status in patients with colorectal cancer.