Genotypes and haplotypes of the VEGF gene and survival in locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer patients treated with chemoradiotherapy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a major mediator of angiogenesis involving in carcinogenesis, including lung cancer. We hypothesized that <it>VEGF </it>polymorphisms may affect survival outcomes among locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We genotyped three potentially functional <it>VEGF </it>variants [-460 T > C (rs833061), -634 G > C (rs2010963), and +936 C > T (rs3025039)] and estimated haplotypes in 124 Caucasian patients with LA-NSCLC treated with definitive radiotherapy. We used Kaplan-Meier log-rank tests, and Cox proportional hazard models to evaluate the association between <it>VEGF </it>variants and overall survival (OS).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Gender, Karnofsky's performance scores (KPS) and clinical stage seemed to influence the OS. The variant C genotypes were independently associated with significantly improved OS (CT+CC vs. TT: adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 0.58; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.37-0.92, <it>P </it>= 0.022), compared with the <it>VEGF </it>-460 TT genotype.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our study suggests that <it>VEGF </it>-460 C genotypes may be associated with a better survival of LA-NSCLC patients after chemoradiotherapy. Large studies are needed to confirm our findings.</p