title: A high pretreatment serum basic fibroblast growth factor concentration is an independent predictor of poor prognosis in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
abstract: Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is a secreted multifunctional cytokine and a potent stimulator of angiogenesis in vivo. Elevated bFGF concentrations have been detected in the serum and urine of cancer patients. We measured bFGF by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay from sera taken from 160 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients before treatment and stored at -20 degrees C. The patients had been observed for at least 5 years or until death. Serum bFGF concentrations (S-bFGF) ranged from undetectable to 34.7 pg/mL (median, 3.3 pg/mL). S-bFGF was detectable with a similar frequency in all subtypes of NHL. A high pretreatment S-bFGF was associated with poor overall survival. The 5-year survival rate of the patients within the highest quartile of S-bFGF concentrations (S-bFGF = 5.5 pg/mL) was only 39%, in contrast to a 60% survival rate of the patients with lower S-bFGF (P =.019). A high S-bFGF (within the highest quartile) was associated with poor outcome also in large-cell diffuse and immunoblastic lymphomas (5-year survival rates of 28% v 56%, respectively; P =.027), which was the largest histologic subgroup (n = 66) within the series. In multivariate analyses, S-bFGF was an independent prognostic factor, both when the highest quartile was used as a cut-off value (P =.0079) and when S-bFGF and the other parameters were entered into the model as continuous variables (P =.024). In the multivariate analyses, S-bFGF had a noticeably stronger prognostic value than serum lactate dehydrogenase and the number of extranodal tumor sites, both of which are currently included as components in the International Prognostic Index.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland. petri.salven@helsinki.fi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Salven
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Teerenhovi
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Joensuu
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000401:mortality; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2