STUDY OF THE VASCULAR ENDOTHELIAL GROWTH FACTOR IN DIFFERENT BILHARZIAL BLADDER LESIONS

Abstract

Bladder cancer is the most common malignancy in Egypt with schistosomiasis representing a leading cause. Prognostic indicators arc required to further elucidate which tumors should be treated early in an aggressive fashion. Angiogenic factors research was found promising in this field. In this study, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) serum level and tissue expression were determined in 62 patients suffering from chronic cystitis and bladder cancer associated or not with schistosomiasis as well as a control group of 8 healthy adults. From the results it could be concluded that VEGF expression level in both tissue and serum may be a valuable angiogenic marker for identifying the clinical outcome of bladder carcinoma. Also serum VEGF concentration may be used as a new non-invasive predictive and prognostic marker especially in high risk cases that need continuous follow up.