Levels of endostatin and some angiogenic indices in both sera and pleural fluids of patients with small cell lung cancer

Angiogenesis plays an important role in growth, progression and metastasis of neoplasms. Levels of vascular endothelial growth factor [VEGF], transforming growth factor-beta1 [TGF-beta 1] and basic fibroblast growth factor [bFGF] [as angiogenic factors] and endostatin [as anti-angiogenic factor] were evaluated in sera of 30 male patients with non small cell lung cancer [NSCLC]. Their ages ranged from 36 to 70 years, average 59.3 years and 10 age and sex matched healthy controls. Pleural fluid levels of these cytokines were estimated in 18 out of 30 cancer patients as well as 10 patients with congestive heart failure pleural effusion as a control group. The present study was designed to determine whether these indices could be used as diagnostic tools for lung cancer and to evaluate their correlation to the stage of the disease. Lung cancer patients showed significant [P<0.001 and P<0.05] increased levels of the studied bioindices in both serum and pleural fluid compared with control subjects. There was no significant difference in the serum and pleural fluid levels of these cytokines between the different histological types of lung cancer. Lung cancer patients with advanced stages [n =24] showed significantly higher serum [P<0.001] levels of angiogenic factors and endostatin compared with those with early stages [n=6]. In patients with lung cancer, a significant positive correlation was found between serum levels of endostatin and each of VEGF [r = 0.58, P<0.0001], TGF-beta1 [r = 0.52, P<0.01]. and bFGF [r = 0.4, P<0.01]. A significant positive correlation between serum VEGF and TGF-beta1 [r = 0.45, P<0. 01] was found in patients with advanced lung cancer. Regarding Pleural effusion, there were significant positive correlations between levels of endostatin and each of VEGF [r = 0.44, P<0.0001], TGF-beta 1 [r = 0.43, P<0.01] and bFGF [r = 0.46, P<0.01]. Similarly, a significant positive correlation between VEGF and TGF-beta 1 [r = 0.45, P<0.01] was found. In conclusion: measurement of VEGF, TGF-beta 1 and bFGF [as angiogenic factors] and endostatin [as anti-angiogenic factor] could be used as tumor markers in NSCLC. Their serum and pleural fluid levels are correlated to disease severity rather than its pathological types. The endogenous pro- and anti-angiogenic factors reveal the complexity of the homeostatic system controlling angiogenesis. Further studies are recommended to follow up these factors in different clinical states and correlate their levels with prognosis

The Relationship between the Serum Intercellular Adhesion Molecule-1 Level and the Prognosis of the Disease in Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND: Adhesion molecules are related to cell-to-cell interaction and inflammatory interaction. In addition, adhesive interactions between tumor cells and adjacent cells and/or extracellular matrix play important roles in the complex process of tumor growth and development. Among these adhesion molecules, expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) has been identified in colon cancer, bladder cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, pancreatic cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma. In the current study, we analyzed serum ICAM-1 concentrations to investigate the relationship between the serum ICAM-1 level and prognosis in patients with lung cancer METHODS: Serum ICAM-1 was measured in 84 patients with lung cancer according to the pathologic type and clinical stage using the ICAM-1 ELISA kit. The Kaplan-Meier method was used to analyse survival time. RESULTS: There was no difference in serum ICAM-1 concentration among the different stages of lung cancer. Furthermore, there was no difference observed between histologic tumor type with regard to serum ICAM-1 concentration. Although the difference was not significant, the overall survival times of patients with a low serum ICAM-1 concentration ( or=306 ng/mL) in non-small cell lung cancer patients. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that high levels of serum ICAM-1 reflect poor prognosis for patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

Serum insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I and IGF-binding proteins in lung cancer patients

Many studies have shown that insulin-like growth factors (IGF-I & IGF-II) are implicated in the autocrine and paracrine growth of various tumors. Alterations in serum IGFs and IGF-binding proteins (IGFBPs) profiles have been reported in lung cancer. In this study, we measured serum levels of IGF-I and IGFBPs in 41 patients with lung cancer (small cell lung cancer, SCLC, 9; non-small cell lung cancer, NSCLC, 32) by radioimmunoassay and Western ligand blot (WLB). The serum IGF-I level in patients with lung cancer was significantly lower than in controls (207.9+/-62.6 vs 281.3+/-53.9 ng/mL, p0.05). The concentration of IGFBP-3 in lung cancer was 48% of that found in controls by WLB. The serum level of IGFBP-2 was markedly elevated in patients with lung cancer compared with controls (1303.7+/-618.0 vs 696.2+/-300.5, p<0.01). However, there was no significant difference between SCLC and NSCLC groups. This result showed that serum level of IGF-I/IGFBPs may be useful markers for diagnosing and identifying tumor types in lung cancer and further studies are needed.

Calcitonina monomérica plasmática e hipercalcemia em pacientes portadores de neoplasia pulmonar / Monomeric plasmatic calcitonin and hypercalcemia in lung cancer patients

A calcitonina (CT) é um hormonio peptídico relacionado ao metabolismo de calcio produzido pelas células C da tiróide. Encontra-se com níveis plasmaticos bastante elevados no carcinoma medular de tiróide e mostra-se como excelente marcador dessa doença. No entanto, existem relatos na literatura que demonstraram níveis elevados deste peptídio em pacientes portadores de outras neoplasias, principalmente no carcinoma de pulmao. Objetivo. Avaliar a validade da dosagem da CT sérica como possível marcador tumoral em pacientes portadores de tumor de pulmao de diferentes tipos histológicos. Métodos. Foram dosados CT plasmatica e calcio ionizado sanguíneo em 56 pacientes portadores de tumores malignos de pulmao. Para as dosagens de CT os autores utilizaram um método de radioimunoensaio específico, realizado após extraçao prévia do soro em coluna de sílica. Resultados. Observou-se prevalência de hipercalcemia de 21,4 por cento; apenas três (5,4 por cento) dos 56 pacientes investigados apresentaram níveis pouco elevados de calcitonina, e o restante manteve níveis normais ou identectaveis do peptídio. Conclusao. Os resultados demonstram que, com a utilizaçao de um método bastante específico para dosagem da calcitonina em sua forma monomérica, nao se encontram níveis elevados deste hormonio em pacientes portadores de neoplasia pulmonar, desestimulando sua utilizaçao como marcador tumoral nesta patologia.