The role of circulating IL‐8 and VEGF protein in the progression of gastric cancer

• Published in: Cancer science Vol. 94; no. 8; pp. 735 - 740
• Main Authors: Konno, Hiroyuki, Ohta, Manabu, Baba, Megumi, Suzuki, Shohachi, Nakamura, Satosi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.08.2003; Blackwell; John Wiley & Sons, Inc
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers; Female; Gastrectomy; Gastric cancer; Gastroenterology. Liver. Pancreas. Abdomen; Humans; Interleukin 8; Interleukin-8 - blood; Invasiveness; Lymph nodes; Lymphatic Metastasis; Lymphatic system; Male; Medical sciences; Metastases; Middle Aged; Multivariate analysis; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Predictive Value of Tests; Proportional Hazards Models; Stomach Neoplasms - blood; Stomach Neoplasms - pathology; Stomach. Duodenum. Small intestine. Colon. Rectum. Anus; Surgery; Surgical drains; Tumors; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A - blood; Veins; Veins & arteries; Veins - physiopathology; Wound drainage; Cancerology; Vascular endothelium growth factor; Cytokine; Tumor progression; Digestive diseases; Malignant tumor; Stomach cancer; Interleukin 8; Protein; Gastric disease
• ISSN: 1347-9032; 1349-7006
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1349-7006.2003.tb01511.x

Both vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin 8 (IL‐8) play an important role in the progression of gastric cancer (GC). In this study, we investigated whether circulating levels of VEGF or IL‐8 in drainage veins of GC patients were correlated with any clinicopathological factors. Thirty‐seven patients with primary GC who underwent gastrectomy at our department between 1999 and 2002 were analyzed. Blood samples were drawn from a peripheral vein just before surgery and from a drainage vein immediately after laparotomy. Plasma VEGF levels were significantly higher than those in 10 healthy controls. There was no correlation between VEGF levels in drainage veins and any clinicopathological variable, whereas there was a significant relationship in the case of VEGF levels in peripheral veins; the levels were higher in patients with venous invasion. We found a significant relationship between IL‐8 levels in drainage veins and both tumor size and lymph node metastasis, whereas no significant relationship between IL‐8 levels in peripheral veins and any variable was found. There was no correlation between VEGF and IL‐8 levels in drainage veins. Large tumors, deeply invasive tumors, lymph node involvement, venous invasion and high IL‐8 levels in drainage veins were all significantly associated with shorter disease‐free survival, although multivariate analysis revealed that lymph node involvement was the only independent prognostic factor. In conclusion, the measurement of IL‐8 levels in drainage veins of GC patients may reflect production mainly by the primary lesion and is valuable as an indicator of risk for recurrent disease.