title: Association between VEGF-460T/C gene polymorphism and clinical outcomes of nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with intensity-modulated radiation therapy.
abstract: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent angiogenic factor that plays a critical role in the development, metastasis, and recurrence of tumors. This study aims to determine the correlation of single-nucleotide polymorphisms in theVEGFgene with the prognosis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The VEGF -460T/C gene polymorphisms in the genomic DNA of the blood samples of 338 patients with NPC were investigated through polymerase chain reaction and direct DNA sequencing. Results showed a significant association between the -460C-allele carriers and the aggressive forms of NPC as defined by stages N2-3 (odds ratio =1.820, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.118-2.962,P=0.015). Furthermore, the VEGF -460T/C polymorphism was significantly associated with 3-year overall survival (OS), distant metastasis-free survival (DMFS), and progression-free survival (PFS) (T/C + C/C vs T/T: 3-year OS 78.8% vs 95.1%,P=0.003; 3-year DMFS 80.2% vs 90.6%,P=0.036; 3-year PFS 73.9% vs 86.7%,P=0.042) but was not associated with the local recurrence-free survival (LRFS) of the patients. The multivariate analysis indicated that the VEGF -460C-allele carrier was an independent significant prognostic factor for OS (hazard ratio [HR] 4.096, 95% CI: 1.333-12.591,P=0.014). N classification was an independent significant prognostic factor for DMFS in patients with locoregionally advanced NPC (HR 3.674, 95% CI: 1.144-11.792,P=0.029). However, neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NACT) followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) was not superior to CCRT alone in terms of the 3-year OS, LRFS, DMFS, and PFS of patients with VEGF -460T/C polymorphism. In conclusion, the VEGF -460T/C gene polymorphism may negatively affect the clinical outcomes of patients with NPC and may be considered a potential prognostic factor for this disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Junyin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaowei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chunlin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Jingshan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xiaoqing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dongmei
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Rensheng
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
keywords: clinical outcomes; gene polymorphism; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; vascular endothelial growth factor