Serum angiopoietin-2 as a clinical marker for lung cancer.
BACKGROUND
Angiopoietins play a critical role in the angiogenesis related to tumor growth in concert with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and enhanced expression of angiopoietin-2 has been reported in lung cancer tissue.


METHODS
Patients with lung cancer (n = 136) and healthy volunteers (n = 40) were enrolled. Serum angiopoietin-2 and VEGF concentrations were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.


RESULTS
Patients with lung cancer had higher serum angiopoietin-2 (2,046.3 +/- 1,171.3 pg/mL vs 1,269.8 +/- 494.1 pg/mL, p < 0.001) and VEGF (542.9 +/- 445.8 pg/mL vs 364.7 +/- 185.9 pg/mL, p < 0.05) [mean +/- SD] levels than the control group. Serum angiopoietin-2 and VEGF levels correlated with each other in patients with lung cancer (Spearman r = 0.30, p < 0.001), specifically in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) [n = 110; r = 0.34; p < 0.001] but not in small cell lung cancer (n = 26). With stage progression in NSCLC, serum angiopoietin-2 levels increased, and patients with distant metastasis had higher levels than those without metastasis (p < 0.005). By contrast, serum VEGF level did not increase with stage progression, and only had a trend toward elevation in distant metastasis (p = 0.05). In NSCLC, the low angiopoietin-2 group (< 1,605.5 pg/mL) had a better overall survival compared to the high angiopoietin-2 group (> or = 1,605.5 pg/mL; p < 0.05), although this survival benefit was not maintained after controlling for stage in a multivariate analysis. The angiopoietin-2 levels were higher in NSCLC patients with postoperative recurrence than in those without.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study suggests that serum angiopoietin-2 is a useful clinical marker for detecting NSCLC with distant metastasis and is of potential prognostic value.
Park
Joo Hun
JH
Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, San 5, Wonchon-dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon, Gyeonggi-do 443-721, South Korea.
Park
Kwang Joo
KJ
Kim
Young Sun
YS
Sheen
Seung Soo
SS
Lee
Keu Sung
KS
Lee
Hyoung No
HN
Oh
Yoon Jung
YJ
Hwang
Sung Chul
SC
D000368:Aged; D042702:Angiopoietin-2 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D018288:Carcinoma, Small Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008168:Lung / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D042702:Angiopoietin-2; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A