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Updated: May 12, 2026
A Simple Bioassay for the Evaluation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
Published on: March 15, 2016
High circulating VEGF level predicts poor overall survival in lung cancer
Pingping Hu1, Weidong Liu, Liguang Wang
1Institute of Oncology, Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Shandong University, 324 Jingwu Road, Jinan 250021, People's Republic of China.
Purpose:
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is considered as the best-validated key regulator of angiogenesis, while the prognostic role of circulating VEGF in lung cancer remains controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the prognostic role of circulating VEGF.
Methods:
Nineteen studies with a total number of 2,890 patients were analyzed in our meta-analysis. Hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were used to quantify the predictive ability of circulating VEGF on survival.
Results:
The pooled HR of all 17 studies evaluating overall survival (OS) was 1.29 (95 % CI 1.19-1.40, p < 0.001), indicating high circulating VEGF predicted poor OS. When grouped by disease stages, the pooled HRs were 0.97 (95 % CI 0.47-1.47, p < 0.001) for operable stage and 1.34 (95 % CI 1.18-1.49, p < 0.001) for inoperable stage. The pooled HRs were 1.28 (95 % CI 1.15-1.42, p < 0.001) for serum and 1.31 (95 % CI 1.13-1.49, p < 0.001) for plasma, when categorized by blood sample. Meta-analysis of circulating VEGF related to progression-free survival (PFS) was performed in 7 studies, and the pooled HR was 1.03 (95 % CI 0.96-1.09).
Conclusions:
Our results indicate that high level of circulating VEGF predicts poor OS in lung cancer, yet it does not predict poor PFS.
