title: Peripheral blood concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor and its soluble receptors (R1 and R2) in patients with adrenal cortex tumours treated by surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Neoangiogenesis appears to be an important event in tumour invasion and in the formation of metastases in many endocrine-related human cancers. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a glycoprotein with potent angiogenic, mitogenic and vascular permeability-enhancing activities specific for endothelial cells and acts through VEGF receptors. The aim of the study was to evaluate the plasma blood concentrations of VEGF, sVEGFR1, and sVEGFR2 in patients with benign and malignant adrenal tumours treated by surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied the blood before surgery of 41 patients with adrenal cortex tumours and 10 normal subjects without hormonal or CT/USG pathology of the adrenal glands (controls). We studied the blood after adrenalectomy of 16 patients with tumours of the adrenal cortex.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Concentrations of VEGF, sVEGFR1 and sVEGFR2 in blood plasma before as well as 30 days after surgery were evaluated by ELISA. VEGF blood concentrations before surgery did not differ in the patients with the cortical tumours as compared to the controls. After surgery VEGF concentrations decreased among the patients, taken in total, with adrenal cortex tumours and cortical adenomas. Before surgery sVEGFR1 blood concentrations were increased in the patients with Conn's syndrome only in comparison with the controls. After surgery, sVEGFR1 concentrations decreased significantly in the group with cortical adenomas only. Before and after surgery sVEGFR2 blood concentrations did not differ between the groups of patients studied and the controls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Peripheral blood concentrations of VEGF and its receptors cannot be clinically valuable markers that discriminate between benign and malignant adrenocortical tumours before and after adrenalectomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Endocrinology, Medical University, Łódź.
authors.forename: Jolanta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jurczyńska
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stepień
authors.forename: Hanna
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lawnicka
authors.forename: Henryk
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stepień
authors.forename: Ryszard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Krupiński
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kołomecki
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kuzdak
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Komorowski
mesh_terms: D000307:Adrenal Gland Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis; D000310:Adrenal Gland Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D000315:Adrenalectomy; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood*; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1 / Q000097:blood*; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D040281:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-1; D040301:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2