title: Clinical significance of serum vascular endothelial growth factor and complement 3a levels in patients with colorectal cancer in southern Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Colon cancer (CRC) is perhaps the second most common cause of cancer mortality. This study determined the clinical significance of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and serum complement 3a (C3a) levels in patients with CRC in Fars province, southern Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between June 2010 and June 2012, 110 patients with CRC of both genders and different age groups were divided into 3 groups. Group A included patients who had just undergone surgery; Group B had undergone chemotherapy after surgery; and Group C had undergone chemotherapy and radiotherapy after surgery. Twenty one healthy subjects with normal colonoscopy were considered as a control group. ELISA was undertaken to determine VEGF and C3a levels before and after treatment measures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of patients was 53.9±14.1 years. Considering VEGF level, a significant decrease was visible after treatment measures in groups A and B, but not Group C. For VEGF level, the difference was not statistically significant between two genders and various age groups before and after treatment. No significant difference was found for VEGF level between patients and normal group before any treatment. Regarding C3a levels in 101 subjects, they significantly decreased after treatment measures. Before and after treatment, the difference was statistically significant between two genders, but was not statistically significant among various age groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As VEGF and C3a levels were significantly lower in patients after treatment, these may be beneficial markers in assessment of CRC therapy especially in early stages.
authors.affiliation: Stem Cell and Transgenic Technology Research Center, Department of Pathology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran E-mail : shamsdina@sums.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Davood
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mehrabani
authors.forename: Seyedeh Azra
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Shamsdin
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dehghan
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Safarpour
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015926:Complement C3a / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D015926:Complement C3a