Affiliations: [a] Department of Urology, King George Medical University, Lucknow, India | [b] Division of Endocrinology, Central Drug Research Institute (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), Lucknow, India
Correspondence:
[*]
Corresponding author: S.N. Sankhwar, Department of Urology, King George Medical University, Lucknow, India. Tel.: +91 0522 2256543; Fax: +91 0522 2256543; E-mail: snurokgmu@rediffmail.com
Abstract:
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation of Vascular Endothelial
Growth Factor (VEGF) and micro-vessel density (MVD) with urinary bladder
tumor and its stage. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study was conducted between January 2010
and December 2012. The study included screening of 122 patients at elevated
risk for bladder cancer, of which 35 patients were finally enrolled in the
study. Diagnosis was made on the basis of urine cytology, radiological
investigation (ultrasound KUB, and CT-scan) and histopathology. Thirty-five
normal cancer-free individuals were enrolled as controls. Human VEGF levels
were measured using an enzyme linked immunoassay and protein content (pg/mg
protein) by Lowry method. SPSS for Windows version 10.0.7 (SPSS, Chicago, IL,
USA) was used for statistical analysis of the data. RESULTS: Mean urine VEGF level in the cases was significantly
higher in comparison to the control group. There was a direct correlation
between VEGF level and tumor stage. Mean urine VEGF values were minimum in
the control group (22.75 ± 15.41 pg/mg creatinine) and maximum in stage
IV patients (180.15 ± 75.93 pg/mg creatinine). Tissue VEGF levels also
showed a similar trend of increase with increase in stage. Urine VEGF level
also showed a correlation with tissue VEGF level. Similarly, MVD showed a
significant increase with increase in tumor stage. DISCUSSION: A correlation between bladder cancer and MVD and VEGF
suggest that the latter can serve as markers for therapeutic guidance. This
is the first study from India on clinical and pathological correlation among
urine VEGF, tumor tissue VEGF levels, and Micro Vessel Density (MVD) in
urinary bladder cancer patients.
