title: Elevated levels of circulating platelet microparticles, VEGF, IL-6 and RANTES in patients with gastric cancer: possible role of a metastasis predictor.
abstract: The activation of coagulation, angiogenesis and inflammatory cytokines are considered to be related with tumour growth and metastasis. We investigated the plasma levels of platelet microparticles (PMP), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), IL-6, and the chemokine RANTES in patients with gastric cancer (n=109) and in healthy controls (n=29). The plasma levels of PMP, IL-6 and RANTES were significantly higher in the patients than in the healthy controls, and plasma levels of PMP, VEGF, IL-6 and RANTES were significantly higher in patients with stage IV disease than those in patients with stage I or stage II/III. In terms of predicting distant metastasis, the sensitivities of PMP, VEGF, IL-6 and RANTES were 93.3%, 56.7%, 70.0% and 81.8%, respectively, and the corresponding specificities were 91.1%, 64.6%, 79.7% and 50.0%. Among these parameters, PMP had the highest diagnostic accuracy. Significant correlations were found between PMP, VEGF, IL-6 and RANTES. This study demonstrates that the plasma levels of PMP, VEGF, IL-6 and RANTES were markedly increased in patients with stage IV disease, and that these increased plasma levels of IL-6, RANTES, and especially PMP, might be useful for identifying metastatic gastric patients.
authors.affiliation: Hematologic Malignancies Branch, Division of Special Cancers, National Cancer Center, 809 Madu 1-dong, Ilsan-gu, Goyang, 411-764, Gyeonggi, South Korea. lukekhk@ncc.re.kr
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Y S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Y H
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: K W
authors.initials: KW
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D001777:Blood Coagulation / Q000502:physiology; D001792:Blood Platelets; D018946:Chemokine CCL5 / Q000097:blood*; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000097:blood*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic; D015539:Platelet Activation / Q000502:physiology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018946:Chemokine CCL5; D016228:Endothelial Growth Factors; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D015850:Interleukin-6; D008222:Lymphokines; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D042442:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors