2. Academic Validation
  3. VEGF-121 plasma level as biomarker for response to anti-angiogenetic therapy in recurrent glioblastoma

VEGF-121 plasma level as biomarker for response to anti-angiogenetic therapy in recurrent glioblastoma

  • BMC Cancer. 2018 May 10;18(1):553. doi: 10.1186/s12885-018-4442-2.
Maurizio Martini 1,  Ivana de Pascalis 2,  Quintino Giorgio D'Alessandris 2,  Vincenzo Fiorentino 1,  Francesco Pierconti 1,  Hany El-Sayed Marei 3,  Lucia Ricci-Vitiani 4,  Roberto Pallini 2,  Luigi Maria Larocca 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Polo Scienze Oncologiche ed Ematologiche, Istituto di Anatomia Patologica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy.
  • 2 Polo Scienze dell'invecchiamento, Neurologiche, Ortopediche e della Testa-Collo, Istituto di Neurochirurgia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy.
  • 3 Department of Cytology and Histology, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
  • 4 Department of Hematology, Oncology and Molecular Medicine, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Viale Regina Elena 299, Rome, 00161, Italy.
  • 5 Polo Scienze Oncologiche ed Ematologiche, Istituto di Anatomia Patologica, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, Largo Francesco Vito 1, 00168, Rome, Italy. [email protected].
PMID: 29747600 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-018-4442-2
Abstract

Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) isoforms, particularly the diffusible VEGF-121, could play a major role in the response of recurrent glioblastoma (GB) to anti-angiogenetic treatment with bevacizumab. We hypothesized that circulating VEGF-121 may reduce the amount of bevacizumab available to target the heavier isoforms of VEGF, which are the most clinically relevant.

Methods: We assessed the plasma level of VEGF-121 in a brain xenograft model, in human healthy controls, and in patients suffering from recurrent GB before and after bevacizumab treatment. Data were matched with patients' clinical outcome.

Results: In athymic rats with U87MG brain xenografts, the level of plasma VEGF-121 relates with tumor volume and it significantly decreases after iv infusion of bevacizumab. Patients with recurrent GB show higher plasma VEGF-121 than healthy controls (p = 0.0002) and treatment with bevacizumab remarkably reduced the expression of VEGF-121 in plasma of these patients (p = 0.0002). Higher plasma level of VEGF-121 was significantly associated to worse PFS and OS (p = 0.0295 and p = 0.0246, respectively).

Conclusions: Quantitative analysis of VEGF-121 isoform in the plasma of patients with recurrent GB could be a promising predictor of response to anti-angiogenetic treatment.

Keywords

Antiangiogenetic-therapy; Recurrent glioblastoma; Target therapy; VEGF isoforms.

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