title: Angiopoietin-2 is a negative prognostic marker in small cell lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly lethal disease due to its chemorefractory nature after initial treatment. Angiogenesis plays an important role in tumor growth, metastasis and chemoresistance. We hypothesized that angiogenesis could predict chemoresistance in SCLC patients and be potentially a therapeutic target in this disease.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum samples from forty-three SCLC patients were prospectively obtained at diagnosis, response evaluation and progression. Angiogenesis-related cytokines (Angiopoietin-2, VEGF-A, C and D) were simultaneously quantified by Luminex Technology. Clinical data were prospectively recorder.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significantly higher concentration of angiogenesis-related cytokines were found in SCLC patients at diagnosis compared to healthy volunteers. High baseline serum concentration of Angiopoietin-2 (sAngiopoietin-2) were associated with a worse overall survival (p=0.006) and remained independently associated with survival in the multivariate analysis (p=0.008). In addition, sAngiopoietin-2 significantly increased at progression when compared to baseline.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data provide novel evidence on a role of sAngiopoietin-2 in the adverse clinical behavior of SCLC and could be a potential therapeutic target in this disease.
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Program, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: icanadas@imim.es.
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cañadas
authors.affiliation: Oncology Department, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Álvaro
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Taus
authors.affiliation: Oncology Department, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Villanueva
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Program, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Oriol
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Arpí
authors.affiliation: Pathology Department, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Lara
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pijuan
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Program, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Yara
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Program, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Menéndez
authors.affiliation: Consulting Service on Methodology for Biomedical Research, IMIM, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Sergi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mojal
authors.affiliation: Pathology Department, IIS-Fundación Jiménez Díaz, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rojo
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Program, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Oncology Department, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Albanell
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Program, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Oncology Department, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rovira
authors.affiliation: Cancer Research Program, IMIM (Hospital del Mar Research Institute), Barcelona, Spain; Oncology Department, Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Edurne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arriola
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D042702:Angiopoietin-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D055752:Small Cell Lung Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D042702:Angiopoietin-2; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A
keywords: Angiogenesis; Angiopoietin-2; Chemoresistance; Small cell lung cancer (SCLC)