title: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is associated with reduced severity of acute graft-versus-host disease and nonrelapse mortality after allogeneic stem cell transplantation.
abstract: This study investigated whether or not there is a correlation between the changes in the serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the outcome of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). Eighty-five patients undergoing allo-SCT were prospectively studied. The serum VEGF levels were measured on days 0, +7 and +14 after transplantation. The VEGF levels decreased significantly on day +7 and recovered on day +14. The highest levels from day +7 through day +14 were categorized by cluster analysis, which were then correlated with the nonrelapse mortality (NRM). There was a significant correlation between a low VEGF level and the occurrence of severe acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) including grade III-IV (P=0.029). The 1-year probability of NRM in patients with a low VEGF level was 22.5% compared with 3.5% for those with a high VEGF level (P=0.024). Multivariate analysis revealed clinically defined infections (P=0.011), advanced disease (P=0.014) and a low VEGF cluster (P=0.05) to be significantly associated with the occurrence of NRM in the cohort. In conclusion, low VEGF levels after allo-SCT are associated with NRM with an exacerbated severity of acute GVHD. VEGF monitoring after a transplant might identify those patients at risk of severe transplant-related mortality.
authors.affiliation: Catholic Hemopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Center, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea. ckmin@catholic.ac.kr
authors.forename: C-K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: S Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: K S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Eom
authors.forename: Y J
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: D W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Min
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Cho
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006086:Graft vs Host Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D033581:Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D015996:Survival Rate; D019172:Transplantation Conditioning / Q000379:methods; D014184:Transplantation, Homologous; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A