title: VEGF is associated with the poor survival of patients with prostate cancer: a meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is considered as a prime mediator of angiogenesis, and has been implicated in carcinogenesis and metastasis. Various studies examined the relationship between VEGF overexpression with the clinical outcome in patients with prostate cancer, but yielded conflicting results.
  
  
  METHODS
  Electronic databases updated to July 2013 were searched to find relevant studies. A meta-analysis was conducted with eligible studies which quantitatively evaluated the relationship between VEGF status and survival of patients with prostate cancer. Survival data were aggregated and quantitatively analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We performed a meta-analysis of 9 studies that evaluated the correlation between VEGF overexpression and survival in patients with prostate cancer. Combined hazard ratios suggested VEGF overexpression had an unfavorable impact on overall survival (OS) [hazard ratio (HR) =1.54, 95% CI (confidence interval): 1.25-1.83], but not disease free survival (DFS) (HR=1.23, 95% CI: 0.99-1.47) in patients with prostate cancer. No significant heterogeneity was observed among all studies.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VEGF overexpression indicates a poor prognosis for patients with prostate cancer.
authors.affiliation: 1 First Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing Chest Hospital, Nanjing 210029, China ; 2 The Collaborative Research (CORE) Group, Sydney, Australia ; 3 Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhan
authors.affiliation: 1 First Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing Chest Hospital, Nanjing 210029, China ; 2 The Collaborative Research (CORE) Group, Sydney, Australia ; 3 Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors.forename: Ya-Nan
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.affiliation: 1 First Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing Chest Hospital, Nanjing 210029, China ; 2 The Collaborative Research (CORE) Group, Sydney, Australia ; 3 Jiangsu Province Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210029, China.
authors.forename: Li-Ke
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Yu
keywords: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); meta-analysis; prognosis; prostate cancer
references.citation: Urol Oncol. 2013 Apr;31(3):312-7
references.pmid: 21367627
references.citation: Hematol Oncol Clin North Am. 2004 Oct;18(5):951-71, vii
references.pmid: 15474329
references.citation: Clin Cancer Res. 2008 Jun 15;14(12):3785-91
references.pmid: 18559597
references.citation: Cancer Res. 2001 Mar 15;61(6):2533-6
references.pmid: 11289126
references.citation: Chin Clin Oncol. 2012 Dec;1(2):19
references.pmid: 25841397
references.citation: J Thorac Oncol. 2009 Sep;4(9):1094-103
references.pmid: 19687765
references.citation: Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys. 2007 Jan 1;67(1):84-90
references.pmid: 17189065
references.citation: Biometrics. 1994 Dec;50(4):1088-101
references.pmid: 7786990
references.citation: Br J Cancer. 2009 May 5;100(9):1385-92
references.pmid: 19401698
references.citation: Stat Med. 1998 Dec 30;17(24):2815-34
references.pmid: 9921604
references.citation: Mol Biol Rep. 2012 Oct;39(10):9473-84
references.pmid: 22729879
references.citation: J Clin Oncol. 2005 Feb 10;23(5):1011-27
references.pmid: 15585754
references.citation: Control Clin Trials. 1986 Sep;7(3):177-88
references.pmid: 3802833
references.citation: Clin Cancer Res. 2001 Jul;7(7):1932-6
references.pmid: 11448906
references.citation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1996 Mar 5;93(5):1988-92
references.pmid: 8700872
references.citation: Radiat Oncol. 2012 Apr 30;7:66
references.pmid: 22546016
references.citation: BJU Int. 2007 May;99(5):1150-3
references.pmid: 17437444
references.citation: Br J Cancer. 2001 Aug 17;85(4):576-83
references.pmid: 11506499
references.citation: Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2012;13(11):5665-9
references.pmid: 23317235
references.citation: Clin Cancer Res. 2006 Sep 1;12(17):5018-22
references.pmid: 16951216
references.citation: Science. 1997 May 30;276(5317):1423-5
references.pmid: 9162011
references.citation: Clin Cancer Res. 2005 Feb 15;11(4):1434-40
references.pmid: 15746043
references.citation: Nat Rev Drug Discov. 2004 May;3(5):391-400
references.pmid: 15136787
references.citation: J Thorac Dis. 2013 Feb;5(1):40-7
references.pmid: 23372950
references.citation: Hum Pathol. 2000 May;31(5):578-83
references.pmid: 10836297
references.citation: Urol Clin North Am. 2003 May;30(2):315-30, ix
references.pmid: 12735507
references.citation: BMJ. 2001 Jul 28;323(7306):224-8
references.pmid: 11473921
references.citation: BMJ. 1997 Sep 13;315(7109):629-34
references.pmid: 9310563
references.citation: Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 2004 Oct;15(5):297-324
references.pmid: 15450248
references.citation: Prog Cardiovasc Dis. 1985 Mar-Apr;27(5):335-71
references.pmid: 2858114
references.citation: Oncol Rep. 2007 Nov;18(5):1155-63
references.pmid: 17914566
references.citation: Br J Cancer. 2006 Jun 19;94(12):1823-32
references.pmid: 16773076
references.citation: Nat Rev Cancer. 2002 Oct;2(10):795-803
references.pmid: 12360282