title: Serum PDGF-AB in pleural mesothelioma.
abstract: Overexpression of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) has been observed in lung and pleural tumors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic role of serum PDGF in pleural mesothelioma (PM). Four groups of subjects were studied: 93 malignant PM patients, 33 primary non small cell lung cancer patients, 51 subjects exposed to asbestos, defined as high-risk controls, and 24 healthy controls. PDGF-AB mean concentration was higher in PM patients (45.8 ng/ml) than in high-risk controls (33.1 ng/ml) and healthy controls (26.8 ng/ml). Using the cut-off level of 49.8 ng/ml, corresponding to the mean+2SD of PDGF-AB in healthy controls, 43% of PM patients showed positive PDGF-AB levels. Survival was evaluated in 82 PM patients. At the end of the follow-up (median 9.8 months) 80.5% of patients had died. Median survival was 13.1 and 7.9 months for patients with PDGF-AB lower and higher than the cut-off, respectively. Adjusting for age, sex, histology and platelet count, positive PDGF-AB levels were associated with lower survival (OR=1.2, 95%CI: 0.9-1.6), even if not significantly so. In conclusion, serum PDGF may represent a useful additional parameter to prognostic factors already available for PM.
authors.affiliation: Division of Environmental Epidemiology, National Cancer Research Institute, Genova, Italy. rosangela.filiberti@istge.it
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Filiberti
authors.forename: Paola
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Marroni
authors.forename: Monica
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Neri
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ardizzoni
authors.forename: Pier Giacomo
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Betta
authors.forename: Mara A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Cafferata
authors.forename: Pier Aldo
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Canessa
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Puntoni
authors.forename: Giovanni Paolo
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Ivaldi
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paganuzzi
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor / Q000032:analysis*; D010997:Pleural Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D010982:Platelet-Derived Growth Factor; C095477:platelet-derived growth factor AB