
[Cancer Research 60, 3662-3665, July 1, 2000]
© 2000 American Association for Cancer Research
The Value of Platelet-derived Endothelial Cell Growth Factor as a Novel Predictor of Advancement of Uterine Cervical Cancers
Jiro Fujimoto1,
Hideki Sakaguchi,
Ikumi Aoki and
Teruhiko Tamaya
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gifu University School of Medicine, 40 Tsukasa-machi, Gifu City 500-8705, Japan
 |
ABSTRACT
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Serum platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor (PD-ECGF) in
patients with uterine cervical cancers revealed a significantly
positive correlation with clinical stage and tumor size and with the
advancement indicators lymph node metastasis, parametrial involvement,
and vessel permeation in both squamous cell carcinomas and
adenocarcinomas. The prognosis of the patients with high serum PD-ECGF
was extremely poor, whereas the 36-month survival rate of the other
patients with low serum PD-ECGF was 81.3% in squamous cell carcinomas
and 80.0% in adenocarcinomas. Our data indicate that serum PD-ECGF
levels reflect the status of advancement of uterine cervical cancers
and thus may be recognized as a novel tumor marker for both squamous
cell carcinomas and adenocarcinomas of the uterine cervix.
 |
INTRODUCTION
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PD-ECGF2
was cloned as a novel angiogenic factor
(Mr 45,000 polypeptide) from human
platelets (1)
. Thereafter, PD-ECGF was completely
identified with TP (2
, 3)
. PD-ECGF/TP does not stimulate
the growth of endothelial cells but chemotaxis of them and induces
angiogenesis in vivo with the activation of TP as an enzyme
(4
, 5)
. PD-ECGF is expressed in lymph nodes, peripheral
lymphocytes, spleen, lung, liver, and placenta among normal tissues.
Among solid tumors, PD-ECGF is expressed in malignant gliomas, thyroid
tumors, cancers of the breast, esophagus, stomach, colon, pancreas,
gallbladder, kidney, bladder, ovary, uterine cervix, and lung
(6)
.
PD-ECGF action on the advancement of female genital tract diseases can
be gleaned from the following. PD-ECGF was up-regulated in normal
uterine endometrium after ovulation (7)
, whereas steroidal
regulation of PD-ECGF was deficient in ovarian endometriosis during the
menstrual cycle (8)
. In uterine endometrial cancers,
PD-ECGF was dominantly expressed in interstitial cells and contributed
to myometrial invasion of the cancer cells and tumor growth in the
early stage (9)
. In ovarian cancers, PD-ECGF was
remarkably highly expressed in some ovarian cancers; however, its
levels did not correlate with patient prognosis (10)
. In
uterine cervical cancers, PD-ECGF was dominantly expressed in
interstitial cells, and its levels correlated with microvessel density
and patient prognosis (11)
.
Among female genital tract cancers, PD-ECGF in the primary tumor of
uterine cervical cancers is recognized as a prognostic indicator. On
the other hand, the presence of lymph node metastasis, recognized as
the most common metastatic lesion, is critical to patients prognosis
(12, 13, 14, 15)
. The prognosis of patients with a high level of
PD-ECGF in metastatic lymph node lesions was extremely poor, which
indicates that PD-ECGF might contribute to the advancement of
metastatic lesions and that the PD-ECGF level in metastatic lesions
might be a prognostic indicator (16)
. If serum PD-ECGF can
be used as a tumor marker, the level of PD-ECGF in serum may become
more convenient and popular for clinical usage than PD-ECGF in tumor
tissues and metastatic lymph nodes.
SCC antigen, one of 14 subfractions of tumor antigen TA-4
(17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
, has been reported to be a reliable tumor marker
for SCCs of the uterine cervix (24
, 25)
. Its levels
correlate well with clinical stage and tumor advancement, including
nodal metastasis, and are useful for patient management, especially the
monitoring of tumor recurrence and therapeutic response
(17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
. The aim of this study was to investigate whether
serum PD-ECGF in comparison with serum SCC can be used as a tumor
marker of uterine cervical cancers.
 |
MATERIALS AND METHODS
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Patients and Specimens.
Consent for the following studies was obtained from all patients and
the Research Committee for Human Subjects, Gifu University School of
Medicine. One hundred twenty patients ranging from 31 to 74 years of
age and 20 volunteers ranging from 31 to 74 years of age provided
peripheral blood at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gifu
University School of Medicine, between January 1992 and July 1996. None
of the patients had received any preoperative therapy. The clinical
stage of uterine cervical cancers was determined by International
Federation of Obstetrics and Gynecology classification
(26)
.
Tumor size was determined by measurement of the maximum longitudinal
diameter of the extirpated tumors. Several microscopic sections from
each extirpated tumor with the approximate maximum longitudinal
diameter were stained with H&E. All extirpated specimens were
histologically examined to demonstrate pelvic lymph node metastasis,
PI, and VP as advancement indicators. Intravessel tumor cells in these
specimens demonstrated vessel permeation. The histological
classification of the tumors was based on WHO criteria.
Enzyme Immunoassay for Determination of Serum PD-ECGF and SCC
Antigen Levels.
Serum PD-ECGF and SCC antigen levels were determined by the sandwich
enzyme immunoassay of the modified Nishidas method (27)
and by enzyme immunoassay using an IMX SCC kit (Dinabot, Tokyo, Japan),
respectively, in triplicate.
Statistics.
Survival curves were calculated using the Kaplan-Meier method and
analyzed by the log-rank test. Statistical analysis was performed with
Students t test. Differences were considered significant
when P < 0.05.
 |
RESULTS
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Serum SCC levels were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in 72 SCCs (3.37 ± 2.97 ng/ml)
compared with 48 adenocarcinomas of the uterine cervix (0.69 ± 0.15 ng/ml) and increased with increasing disease stage in SCCs
but not in adenocarcinomas (Fig. 1)
. There was no significant difference in serum PD-ECGF levels between
SCCs and adenocarcinomas of the uterine cervix and levels increased
with increasing disease stage, regardless of histopathological type
(Fig. 1)
.

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Fig. 1. Serum PD-ECGF and SCC levels related to clinical stages in
uterine cervical cancers. The clinical stage of SCCs
(Sq) and adenocarcinomas (Ad) of the
uterine cervix was determined by International Federation of Obstetrics
and Gynecology classification (26)
.
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To analyze the correlation between tumor size and serum SCC or
PD-ECGF level, the patients with stage Ib and II uterine
cervical cancers were selected. There was a significant positive
correlation between tumor size and serum SCC level in SCCs
(SCC = 0.0540 x tumor size + 0.480; r = 0.839; P < 0.01), but not in adenocarcinomas, as shown in Fig. 2
. There was a significant positive correlation between tumor size and
serum PD-ECGF level, regardless of histopathological type (SCCs:
PD-ECGF = 1.33 x tumor size - 1.50; r = 0.818;
P < 0.01; adenocarcinomas: PD-ECGF = 1.32 x tumor size - 4.30;
r = 0.842; P < 0.01), as shown in Fig. 2
.

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Fig. 2. Serum PD-ECGF and SCC levels related to tumor
diameter in uterine cervical cancers. Tumor diameter was measured as
the maximum longitudinal diameter of the extirpated tumors of stage
Ib and II SCCs (Sq) and adenocarcinomas
(Ad) of the uterine cervix.
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In SCC patients, serum SCC levels were significantly
(P < 0.05) higher in 36 patients with
positive pelvic LN meta compared with 36 patients with negative LN meta
(Fig. 3a)
, in 44 patients with positive PI compared with 28 patients
with negative PI (Fig. 3b)
, and in 41 patients with positive
VP compared with 31 patients with negative VP (Fig. 3c)
.
There were no such differences in adenocarcinoma patients (Fig. 3)
.
Regardless of histopathological type, serum PD-ECGF levels were
significantly (P < 0.05) higher in 63
patients with positive LN meta compared with 57 patients with negative
LN meta (Fig. 3a)
, in 74 patients with positive PI compared
with 46 patients with negative PI (Fig. 3b)
, and in 69
patients with positive VP compared with 51 patients with negative VP
(Fig. 3c)
.

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Fig. 3. Serum PD-ECGF and SCC levels related to advancement
indicators pelvic lymph node metastasis, PI, and VP in uterine cervical
cancers. All extirpated specimens were examined histologically.
a, pelvic lymph node metastasis; b, PI;
c, VP. Sq, SCC; Ad,
adenocarcinoma.
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To analyze patient prognosis related to serum SCC and PD-ECGF levels,
the patients with stage II uterine cervical cancer after
curative resection were selected. The prognosis of SCC patients with
high serum SCC was very poor, whereas the 36-month survival rate of the
other SCC patients with low serum SCC was 81.3%. There was no
significant difference in the prognosis of adenocarcinoma patients
according to serum SCC levels (Fig. 4)
. The prognosis of both SCC and adenocarcinoma patients with high serum
PD-ECGF was extremely poor, whereas the 36-month survival rate of the
other patients with low serum PD-ECGF was 81.3% in SCCs and 80.0% in
adenocarcinomas (Fig. 4)
.
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DISCUSSION
|
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SCC has been recognized as a very reliable marker for tumor
advancement including nodal metastasis of SCCs of the uterine cervix
(24
, 25) . In the present study, serum SCC levels in
patients with SCC of the cervix revealed a significantly positive
correlation with clinical stage and tumor size and with the advancement
indicators lymph node metastasis, PI, and VP. The prognosis of the
patients with high serum SCC was very poor in SCCs. On the other hand,
serum SCC in adenocarcinomas was always low, and the levels revealed no
positive correlation with clinical stage or tumor size, nor with the
advancement indicators lymph node metastasis, PI, and VP. Additionally
SCC levels had no correlation with adenocarcinoma patients prognoses.
Our findings reconfirm that SCC is an excellent tumor marker for SCC of
the cervix.
Researchers have attempted to use CA125 as a tumor marker for
adenocarcinoma of the cervix. Expression of CA125 was diffusely
positive in normal endocervical glands, whereas the expression was
significantly decreased in minimal deviation adenocarcinoma of the
uterine cervix (28)
. Conversely, elevated serum CA125 was
detected with large variation of positive ratio in adenocarcinomas of
the cervix (29
, 30)
. Therefore, CA125 seems not to be a
reliable tumor marker for the advancement of uterine cervical cancers.
In the present study, the levels of serum PD-ECGF revealed a
significantly positive correlation with clinical stage and tumor size,
and with the advancement indicators lymph node metastasis, PI, and VP
in both SCCs and adenocarcinomas of the uterine cervix. Furthermore,
the prognosis of the patients with high serum PD-ECGF was extremely
poor, regardless of histopathological type. Our data indicate that
serum PD-ECGF levels reflect the status of advancement of uterine
cervical cancers and thus may be recognized as a novel tumor marker for
both SCCs and adenocarcinomas of the uterine cervix. Additionally, the
levels of PD-ECGF in the serum are only 1,000- to 10,000-fold lower
than those in uterine cervical cancer tissues we determined previously
(11
, 16)
.
 |
FOOTNOTES
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The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
1 To whom requests for reprints should be
addressed, at Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gifu University
School of Medicine, 40 Tsukasa-machi, Gifu City 500-8705, Japan. Phone:
81-58-267-2631; Fax: 81-58-265-9006. 
2 The abbreviations used are: PD-ECGF,
platelet-derived endothelial cell growth factor; TP, thymidine
phosphorylase; SCC, squamous cell carcinoma; LN meta, lymph node
metastases; PI, parametrial involvement; VP, vessel permeation. 
Received 12/20/99.
Accepted 5/18/00.
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