Serum PDGF-AB in Pleural Mesothelioma

Vol. 26, No. 5, 2005

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Research Article

Serum PDGF-AB in Pleural Mesothelioma
Rosa Filiberti^a, Paola Marroni^b, Monica Neri^a, Andrea Ardizzoni^c, Pier Giacomo Betta^d, Mara A. Cafferata^c, Pier Aldo Canessa^e, Riccardo Puntoni^a, Giovanni Paolo Ivaldi^g, Michela Paganuzzi^b

Divisions of
^aEnvironmental Epidemiology,
^bClinical Pathology, and
^cMedical Oncology, National Cancer Research Institute, Genova,
^dPathology Unit, Department of Oncology, ASO, Alessandria,
^eDivision of Pneumology, S. Bartolomeo Hospital, Sarzana, and
^fDivision of Pneumology, AO Villa Scassi, Genova, Italy

Address of Corresponding Author

Tumor Biol 2005;26:221-226 (DOI: 10.1159/000087376)

Key Words

Pleural mesothelioma
Growth factor
Biomarker
PDGF
Serum
Prognosis
Asbestos

Abstract

Overexpression of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) has been observed in lung and pleural tumors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic role of serum PDGF in pleural mesothelioma (PM). Four groups of subjects were studied: 93 malignant PM patients, 33 primary non small cell lung cancer patients, 51 subjects exposed to asbestos, defined as high-risk controls, and 24 healthy controls. PDGF-AB mean concentration was higher in PM patients (45.8 ng/ml) than in high-risk controls (33.1 ng/ml) and healthy controls (26.8 ng/ml). Using the cut-off level of 49.8 ng/ml, corresponding to the mean + 2SD of PDGF-AB in healthy controls, 43% of PM patients showed positive PDGF-AB levels. Survival was evaluated in 82 PM patients. At the end of the follow-up (median 9.8 months) 80.5% of patients had died. Median survival was 13.1 and 7.9 months for patients with PDGF-AB lower and higher than the cut-off, respectively. Adjusting for age, sex, histology and platelet count, positive PDGF-AB levels were associated with lower survival (OR = 1.2, 95%CI: 0.9-1.6), even if not significantly so. In conclusion, serum PDGF may represent a useful additional parameter to prognostic factors already available for PM.

Author Contacts

Rosa Filiberti
Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Epidemiologia Ambientale
Largo R. Benzi 10
IT-16132 Genova (Italy)
Tel. +39 0105600964, Fax +39 0105600501, E-Mail rosangela.filiberti@istge.it

Article Information

Received: November 27, 2004
Accepted after revision: April 6, 2005
Published online: August 9, 2005
Number of Print Pages : 6
Number of Figures : 1, Number of Tables : 4, Number of References : 31

Medline Abstract (ID 16103743)

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