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Updated: Jan 28, 2026

A Simple Bioassay for the Evaluation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
Published on: March 15, 2016
Plasma vascular endothelial growth factor levels are a potential therapy-response biomarker for pancreatic cancer
Christine S Hughes1,2, Oleg Blyuss3,4, Hemant M Kocher1,2,5
1Centre for Tumor Biology, Queen Mary University of London, London, United Kingdom.
Introduction:
Cytokines have long been studied for their role in the pathophysiology of cancer, though their role is varied and complex. Cytokines have been mainly developed as a diagnostic or prognostic biomarker using a single measurement from a cohort of patients. Dynamic changes in cytokines may inform us about the prognostic impact of therapy under investigation.
Methods:
We investigated retrospectively whether a panel of selected cytokines could be used as a potential biomarker to assess treatment response and predict the prognosis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients (n=19) treated with combination of Gemcitabine, nab-Paclitaxel and all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA), in the Phase I trial (STARPAC, NCT03307148). We measured cytokine levels in the plasma samples, from multiple cycle/visit time-points.
Results:
Of the six cytokines (IFN-γ, IL-8, IL-16, VEGF, IL-1RA and RANTES) assessed from the STARPAC trial, we propose that VEGF could serve as a potential biomarker for eventual therapy response, as early as the second chemotherapy cycle (of six).
Discussion:
VEGF as a potential therapy response biomarker will need to be tested in phase II randomized controlled trial.
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