Serum angiopoietin-1 as a prognostic marker in resected early stage lung cancer.
OBJECTIVE
We evaluated the clinical significance of angiopoietins and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with resected early stage lung cancer.


METHODS
The study enrolled 101 patients with completely resected non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) of stage I or II, along with 70 healthy volunteers. Serum concentrations of angiopoietin-1, angiopoietin-2, and VEGF were measured with an ELISA. Immunohistochemical expression of angiopoietin-1 was compared with the microvessel density on the lung cancer tissues.


RESULTS
The patients had lower serum angiopoietin-1 (32.1+/-9.9 ng/mL vs. 39.0+/-10.8 ng/mL, p<0.001), higher angiopoietin-2 (1949.2+/-1099.4 pg/mL vs. 1498.6+/-650.0 pg/mL, p<0.01), and higher VEGF (565.1+/-406.3 pg/mL vs. 404.6+/-254.8 pg/mL, p<0.01) levels than the controls. The angiopoietin-2 level was higher in stage II than in stage I patients (p<0.05). The levels of angiopoietin-1 (r=0.28) and angiopoietin-2 (r=0.36) each correlated with the VEGF level. Patients with a higher level of angiopoietin-1 (> or =31.2 ng/mL) had better disease-specific and relapse-free survival than those with a lower angiopoietin-1 level (<31.2 ng/mL). Angiopoietin-1 expression negatively correlated with the microvessel density.


CONCLUSIONS
Serum angiopoietin-1 is a potential marker for predicting postoperative survival and recurrence in patients with early stage NSCLC.
Park
Joo Hun
JH
Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Ajou University School of Medicine, Youngtong-gu, Suwon, 443-721, South Korea.
Choi
Ho
H
Kim
Young Bae
YB
Kim
Young Sun
YS
Sheen
Seung Soo
SS
Choi
Jin-Hyuk
JH
Lee
Hye Lim
HL
Lee
Keu Sung
KS
Chung
Woo Young
WY
Lee
Sungsoo
S
Park
Kyung Joo
KJ
Hwang
Sung Chul
SC
Lee
Kyi Beum
KB
Park
Kwang Joo
KJ