Project description:BackgroundIn lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), tuberous sclerosis gene mutations activate the mechanistic target of the rapamycin pathway, resulting in vascular endothelial growth factor-D (VEGF-D) overproduction. While the utility of serum VEGF-D testing for the diagnosis of LAM is outlined in ATS/JRS LAM Guidelines, the assay has not been fully validated for Asian populations. Our aims were to validate serum VEGF-D testing in Japan, by directly comparing measurements in Japan and the U.S., determining the diagnostic cut-off for serum VEGF-D levels among the Japanese women with typical thin walled cystic change on CT, and determining the performance of VEGF-D as a prognostic biomarker.Subjects and methodsWe determined serum VEGF-D levels from 108 LAM patients, 14 disease controls, and 51 healthy volunteers from the Japanese population. Measurements of 61 LAM patients were compared to those from the principal VEGF-D laboratory in the U.S at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. We correlated baseline serum VEGF-D levels with baseline and longitudinal clinical data to determine how pregnancy, sirolimus or gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) agonists influence serum VEGF-D levels.ResultsSerum VEGF-D measurements in Japan and the U.S. were very similar. Baseline serum VEGF-D levels effectively distinguished LAM from other diseases and healthy volunteers at a cut-off level of 645 pg/ml and were diagnostically specific at 800 pg/ml, consistent with the recommendations of the ATS/JRS LAM Guidelines. Baseline serum VEGF-D correlated negatively with the DLco baseline % predicted and with the annual decrease in DLco % predicted. There was no significant association between baseline serum VEGF-D level and the outcomes of death or transplant. Serum VEGF-D levels markedly decreased during treatment with sirolimus, but not with GnRH analogues. Serum VEGF-D levels of most LAM patients did not increase over time, and neither pregnancy nor menopause significantly modulated serum VEGF-D levels.ConclusionsSerum VEGF-D is a useful diagnostic and therapeutic biomarker for LAM. Satisfactory precision and international inter-laboratory agreement of the clinical assay support VEGF-D recommendations in the ATS/JRS LAM Guidelines for the Japanese population.
Project description:The majority of women with lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) present with cystic lung disease, and most require lung biopsy for definitive diagnosis. The purpose of this study was to determine the prospective diagnostic usefulness of a serologic test for vascular endothelial growth factor-D (VEGF-D), a lymphangiogenic growth factor.We prospectively measured serum VEGF-D levels by enzyme-linked immunoassay in 48 women presenting with cystic lung disease. Diagnostic test performance was determined from a cohort of 195 women, with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), TSC-LAM, sporadic LAM (S-LAM), and other cystic lung diseases in the differential diagnosis, including biopsy-proven or genetically proven pulmonary Langerhans cell histiocytosis, emphysema, Sjögren syndrome, or Birt-Hogg-Dubé syndrome.Serum VEGF-D levels were significantly greater in S-LAM (median 1,175 [interquartile range (IQR): 780-2,013] pg/mL; n = 56) than in other cystic lung diseases (median 281 [IQR 203-351] pg/mL; n = 44, P < .001). In the cohort evaluated prospectively, 12 of the 15 individuals ultimately diagnosed with LAM by biopsy had VEGF-D levels of > 800 pg/mL, whereas levels were < 600 pg/mL in all 18 subjects later diagnosed with other causes of cystic lung disease. Receiver operating characteristic curves demonstrated that VEGF-D effectively identified LAM, with an area under the curve of 0.961(95% CI, 0.923-0.992). A VEGF-D level of > 600 pg/mL was highly associated with a diagnosis of LAM (specificity 97.6%, likelihood ratio 35.2) and values > 800 pg/mL were diagnostically specific. Serum VEGF-D levels were significantly elevated in women with TSC-LAM (median 3,465 [IQR 1,970-7,195] pg/mL) compared with women with TSC only (median 370 [IQR 291-520] pg/mL), P < .001).A serum VEGF-D level of > 800 pg/mL in a woman with typical cystic changes on high-resolution CT (HRCT) scan is diagnostically specific for S-LAM and identifies LAM in women with TSC. A negative VEGF-D result does not exclude the diagnosis of LAM. The usefulness of serum VEGF-D testing in men or in women who do not have cystic lung disease on HRCT scan is unknown.
Project description:While the development of anti-angiogenic therapy, as it pertains to cancer treatment, may still be in its infancy relative to well-established modalities such as chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, major strides made in the past several decades have allowed translation of basic science discoveries in this field into clinical reality. The discovery of key molecular modulators of angiogenesis, notably vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), has catalyzed the development of numerous neutralizing therapeutic agents. The validity of VEGF inhibition as a therapeutic strategy has been well supported in randomized clinical trials, as well as U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of the VEGF antagonists bevacizumab, sunitinib malate, sorafenib, pegaptinib and ranibizumab. Accordingly, this review will (1) briefly review the basic molecular biology of VEGF and (2) summarize recent progress in targeting the VEGF molecular pathway as therapy for angiogenic diseases such as cancer and age-related macular degeneration.
Project description:Interventions: general anesthesia:epidural blockade ;epidural combined with general group :epidural blockade combined with general
Primary outcome(s): serum vascular endothelial growth factor
Study Design: Randomized parallel controlled trial
Project description:This is a phase 3, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multi-center study evaluating the efficacy of pegfilgrastim to reduce the incidence of febrile neutropenia (FN) in patients with newly diagnosed, locally-advanced or metastatic colorectal cancer receiving first-line treatment with bevacizumab and either 5-fluorouracil, Oxaliplatin, Leucovorin (FOLFOX) or 5-fluorouracil, Irinotecan, Leucovorin (FOLFIRI).
This study will also investigate the effect of adding pegfilgrastim to bevacizumab and either FOLFOX or FOLFIRI by evaluating overall survival, progression-free survival, and overall response rate in each arm at regular intervals over a maximum of 60 months follow-up.
Project description:BackgroundLymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM), sporadic or in women with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), is characterized by cystic lung destruction, lymphatic involvement (eg, chylous pleural effusions, lymphangioleiomyomas), and renal angiomyolipomas (AMLs). The multisystem manifestations of LAM appear to result from metastatic dissemination of LAM cells bearing inactivating mutations or having loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of the tumor suppressor genes TSC1 or TSC2, which leads to hyperactivation of the mammalian target of rapamycin. Sirolimus slows the decline of lung function, reduces chylous effusions, and shrinks the size of AMLs. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of sirolimus on circulating LAM cells.MethodsCells from blood were isolated by a density-gradient fractionation system and from urine and chylous effusions by centrifugation. Blood cells were incubated with anti-CD45-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and anti-CD235a-R-phycoerythrin (PE) antibodies, and urine and chylous effusion cells were incubated with anti-CD44v6-FITC and anti-CD9-R-PE antibodies. Cells were sorted and analyzed for TSC2 LOH.ResultsLAM cells with TSC2 LOH were identified in 100% of blood specimens and 75% of urine samples from patients before therapy. Over a mean duration of 2.2 ± 0.4 years of sirolimus therapy, detection rates of LAM cells were significantly decreased to 25% in blood (P < .001) and 8% in urine (P = .003). Following therapy, a greater loss of circulating LAM cells was seen in postmenopausal patients (P = .025).ConclusionsPatients receiving sirolimus had a progressive loss of circulating LAM cells that depended on time of treatment and menopausal status.
Project description:Angiogenesis-associated eye diseases are among the most common cause of blindness in the United States and worldwide. Recent advances in the development of angiogenesis-based therapies for treatment of angiogenesis-associated diseases have provided new hope in a wide variety of human diseases ranging from eye diseases to cancer. One group of growth factor receptors critically implicated in angiogenesis is vascular endothelial growth factor receptors (VEGFR), a subfamily of receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs). VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 are closely related receptor tyrosine kinases and have both common and specific ligands. VEGFR-1 is a kinase-impaired RTK and its kinase activity is suppressed by a single amino acid substitution in its kinase domain and by its carboxyl terminus. VEGFR-2 is highly active kinase, stimulates a variety of signaling pathways and broad biological responses in endothelial cells. The mechanisms that govern VEGFR-2 activation, its ability to recruit signaling proteins and to undergo downregulation are highly regulated by phosphorylation activation loop tyrosines and its carboxyl terminus. Despite their differential potentials to undergo tyrosine phosphorylation and kinase activation, both VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 are required for normal embryonic development and pathological angiogenesis. VEGFR-1 regulates angiogenesis by mechanisms that involve ligand trapping, receptor homodimerization and heterodimerization. This review highlights recent insights into the mechanism of activation of VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2, and focuses on the signaling pathways employed by VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 that regulate angiogenesis and their therapeutic potentials in angiogenesis-associated diseases.
Project description:BackgroundThe role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the pathogenesis of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) has been clearly established. However, little is known about temporal changes in circulating VEGF concentrations in the preterm infant. The objective was to determine the longitudinal serum concentrations of VEGF in relation to ROP.MethodsThis study included 52 infants born at <31 wk gestational age (non-ROP n = 33, nonproliferative ROP n = 10, treated for ROP n = 9). VEGF concentrations were analyzed in blood samples collected at birth, at 3 d postnatal age, and then weekly until at least a gestational age of 35 wk.ResultsVEGF concentrations at birth did not differ between groups, independent of later ROP status. In contrast, VEGF serum concentrations were significantly higher at first detection of ROP in infants who were later treated for ROP compared to infants without ROP. At the time of laser therapy, serum VEGF concentrations did not differ between groups.ConclusionCirculatory concentrations of VEGF, in infants who later developed severe ROP, were elevated at the time when ROP first was detected but not at the time when current treatment most often occurred. This supports the need for further studies of circulating VEGF in relation to the timing of ROP treatment.
Project description:Endothelial cell activation and dysfunction underlie many vascular disorders, including atherosclerosis, tumor growth, and sepsis. Endothelial cell activation, in turn, is mediated primarily at the level of gene transcription. Here, we show that in response to several activation agonists, including vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), tumor necrosis factor-alpha, and thrombin, endothelial cells demonstrate rapid and profound induction of the early growth response (Egr) genes egr-1 and egr-3. In VEGF-treated endothelial cells, induction of Egr-3 was far greater and more prolonged compared with Egr-1. VEGF-mediated stimulation of Egr-3 involved the inducible binding of NFATc, serum response factor, and CREB to their respective consensus motifs in the upstream promoter region of Egr-3. Knockdown of Egr-3 markedly impaired VEGF-mediated proliferation, migration, and tube formation of endothelial cells and blocked VEGF-induced monocyte adhesion. Egr-3 knockdown abrogated VEGF-mediated vascular outgrowth from ex vivo aortic rings and attenuated Matrigel plug vascularization and melanoma tumor growth in vivo. Together, these findings suggest that Egr-3 is a critical determinant of VEGF signaling in activated endothelial cells. Thus, Egr-3 represents a potential therapeutic target in VEGF-mediated vasculopathic diseases.