[Relationship between effectiveness of hepatic artery injection chemotherapy and serum VEGF]

Elevated plasma VEGF levels were reported in patients with colorectal cancer. This report presents regarding VEGF in patients who underwent hepatic artery injection chemotherapy (TAI) for liver metastasis of colorectal cancers. Thirty patients who underwent TAI for liver metastases of colorectal cancer during January 2002 to March 2003 were studied. Their serum CEA, CA19-9, and plasma VEGF were measured, and the relationships between these, their doubling times (DT) and therapeutic efficacy were examined. While the detected values and DTs were not considered significant, the tendency for DT to be the same was observed. One case with negative CEA and CA19-9 had high VEGF but negative VEGF-DT, which is compatible with therapeutic effects (PR). It appears that VEGF is a parameter that changes without direct correlation to CEA or CA19-9, and that VEGF may possibly be used as a therapeutic marker for cases with negative CEA or CA19-9.