Vascular endothelial growth factor in tumor cells in platinum-containing chemotherapy of advanced ovarian cancer

Aim. Study of the relationship of vascular endothelial growth factor expression in tumor cells of ascites and primary tumor in patients with ascitic form of ovarian cancer undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy according to the AP scheme (doxorubicin + cisplatin).

Methods. The level of vascular endothelial growth factor messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) was assessed using PCR-RT in epithelial cells of ascites and primary tumor tissue obtained intraoperatively after 2–4 courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy according to the AP scheme from 25 patients with a verified diagnosis of ovarian cancer (serous adenocarcinoma) at stage III–IV according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Processing of the results was performed using the software package Statistica 10.

Results. An increase in the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor mRNA in epithelial cells of ascites in 60% of samples was established. In the intraoperatively obtained tumor tissue after 2–4 courses of neoadjuvant chemotherapy according to the AP scheme, vascular endothelial growth factor expression was increased in 73% of the samples. At the same time, the increase of relative expression in the tumor after neoadjuvant chemotherapy did not depend on the degree of therapeutic pathomorphosis but was related to early relapse and increased level of cancer antigen-125 (CA-125). Median of relapse-free survival in vascular endothelial growth factor-positive ovarian cancer was less than 5 months.

Conclusion. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy according to the AP scheme increases the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in the tumor tissue in advanced ovarian cancer; the degree of vascular endothelial growth factor overexpression in ovarian tumor is related to the presence of early relapse and an increase in the serum CA-125 level.