Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor as a Predictor of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Invasiveness in Hepatitis C Cirrhotic Patients

Background and Aims: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been reported to be associated with formation of new vessels in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, its clinical significances in patients with HCC are unclear so far. In this study we intended to investigate the association of serum VEGF expression with clinical characteristics of HCC and thus to have an insight regarding the roles of VEGF in the development or progress of HCC. Methods: This study was conducted at the Internal Medicine Department of Suez Canal University Hospitals. It Included 70 Subjects: 20 patients with liver cirrhosis, 40 patients with primary hepatocellular carcinoma, in addition to 10 matched apparently healthy control subjects. All participants willingly participated in the study. Serum VEGF levels were measured by ELISA at the time of diagnosis. And then, they were analyzed in accordance with clinical and radiological characteristics of subjects. Results: The age of the HCC patients ranged from 44-66 years, Males constituted the higher percentage of cases in this study (85% in group II and 75% in group III), the levels of serum VEGF in patients with HCC was significantly higher than those of healthy controls. The group of patients with hepatitis C and superimposed HCC had a significantly higher VEGF values than HCV cirrhotic patients and controls. Results revealed significant correlation between VEGF and tumor size in HCC patients, but there was no significant correlation between VEGF and Alpha feto-protein (p 0.05). Conclusion: Our data indicate that serum VEGF is closely associated with invasiveness of HCC and poor survival of the patients. It suggests that VEGF may play a role in the development of invasive HCC or in the process of rapid progression of HCC.