title: Prognostic significance of vascular endothelial growth factor gene polymorphisms in patients with colorectal cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Angiogenesis plays an important role in tumor development, progression, and metastasis. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key regulator of angiogenesis. However, the contribution of common VEGF polymorphisms to colorectal cancer (CRC) prognosis remains unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  We have genotyped four polymorphisms of VEGF (-2578C>A, -1154G>A, -634G>C, and 936C>T) in 350 CRC cases from the Korean population. The genotyping of VEGF polymorphisms was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although not every VEGF polymorphism was significantly correlated with patient prognosis in overall 350 CRC patients, we found that the VEGF -2578CA genotype was associated with a significantly poor prognosis for rectal cancers compared to the CC genotype (HR = 2.156; 95 % CI 1.090-4.267; P = 0.028). In addition, we found that the -2578A/-1154G/-634G/+936C haplotype was significantly associated with a decreased overall survival (OS) rate in all 350 CRC patients (HR = 2.530; 95 % CI 1.340-4.780; P = 0.004). In combination analysis, we found that the combined VEGF -2578CA+AA/-1154GG genotype was associated with a poor OS rate in all 350 CRC patients (HR = 2.068; 95 % CI 1.159-3.693; P = 0.015).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The VEGF gene polymorphisms investigated in this study were not found to be independent prognostic markers in Korean CRC populations. However, our results suggest that the VEGF -2578C>A variant may be a potential genetic marker for rectal cancer prognosis. Further large population studies are warranted to define whether the -2578C>A polymorphism is a prognostic marker of rectal cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, CHA University, Seongnam, South Korea.
authors.forename: Moon Ju
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Jong Woo
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Young Joo
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: So Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chong
authors.forename: Doyeun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Nam Keun
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011379:Prognosis; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A