Prognostic significance of VEGF expression in patients with bulky cervical carcinoma undergoing neoadjuvant chemotherapy

Abstract

Abstract Background The prediction of response to treatment would be valuable for managing cervical carcinoma with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Methods To this end, the expression of VEGF was analyzed by immunohistochemistry using paraffin-embedded pre-treatment cervical biopsy tissues. This study included 29 patients with bulky IB to IIA cervical squamous cell carcinoma treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy. Results Fifteen (51.7%) of 29 patients were scored as VEGF-positive. Response to chemotherapy (complete response or residual tumor with less than 3 mm stromal invasion) was observed in eight patients (27.6%), and it was negatively associated with VEGF expression (P = 0.009). With logistic regression analysis, VEGF positivity continued to be an independent predictor for poor response (P = 0.032). In addition, the progression-free survival rate was significantly lower in patients with VEGF-positive tumors (P = 0.033). Conclusion Pretreatment assessment of VEGF expression may provide additional information for identification of patients with cervical cancer who had a low likelihood of response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and an unfavorable prognosis.