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3548 Background: the aim of this study was to evaluate the different Computed Tomography (CT) parameters, characterizing tissue perfusion by contrast medium in metastatis to define their relation w...

8540 Background and aims: Circulating vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs) and their receptors (VEGFRs) were described as prognostic factors in several cancers. The aim of this study is to evaluate the prognostic values of these parameters in metastatic malignant melanoma diseases. Methods and Patients: Using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, VEGFs (A, C, D) and their receptors (1, 2, and 3) were measured in sera of 75 patients with metastatic malignant melanoma in comparison to 30 healthy controls. Disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated from the beginning of the treatment until either the progression or the death and analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Pretreatment median sVEGF-A, sVEGF-C as well as VEGFR-3 levels were significantly higher in MMM patients as compared to healthy ones p=0.0017, p=0.005, p2=6.64, p= 0.014) and overall survival (χ2=8.03, p= 0.0046). Conclusions: Our results suggest that, in metastatic malignant melanoma patients, soluble VEGF-A and VEGF-R3 pretreatment levels may prospectively identify high-risk patients with a worse prognosis; serum VEGFR-1 level may be a predictive factor of time to progression and overall survival. A multivariate analysis (Cox test) is ongoing in order to confirm if this parameter is an independent prognostic factor. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

18004 Background: The presence of metastases is a strong indicator of poor survival in many types of cancer. It has recently been shown that vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C), and its receptor Flt-4 (VEGF-R3) are increased in a variety of tumours and may play a pivotal role in the promotion of metastasis. We previously demonstrated that high soluble VEGF-C level was correlated to high tumor burden. Objectives: This study was designed to i) detect and evaluate whether soluble VEGF-R3 play a role in metastatic malignant melanoma patients ii) to determine if they have any relationship with clinicobiological parameters, clinical response and survivals. Methods: Using a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, VEGF-R3 was retrospectively measured in sera of 60 patients with a fully documented history of melanoma disease in comparison with 30 healthy controls. Disease free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were calculated from the beginning of treatment until either the progression (DFS) or death (OS) and analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Results: Pretreatment circulating VEGF-R3 was detectable in all samples from either melanoma patients or healthy donors. Furthermore, median level of sVEGF-R3 was significantly higher (p = 0.000015) in melanoma patients as compared to healthy donors. (38890 vs 30773 pg/ml respectively). No significant association was noted between sVEGF-R3 levels and gender, age or LDH level. Median serum VEGF-R3 level was significantly higher in patients with high tumor burden as compared to patients with low tumor burden (p = 0.045). The pretreatment sVEGF-R3 level was significantly different (p = 0.025) between responder (n = 27) and non-responding patients (n = 33). Lastly, the relapse-free survival was higher in the group with low sVEGF-R3 concentration compared to the high one’s (14.1 vs 11,9 months) as well as for OS (14.3 Vs 12.6 months) but theses differences were not significant (χ2 = 2,30, p = 0.12 & χ2 = 0.74, p = 0.37 respectively). Conclusion: these results suggest that high pretreatment sVEGF-R3 level is related to bad prognosis in melanoma patients. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

8049 Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) and its circulating form (sVEGF-A) play a major role in tumor progression and angiogenesis. However, the clinical implications of circulating VEGF-A in metastatic malignant melanoma patients and its role in tumor-associated lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic metastasis remained unclear. Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential role of circulating VEGF-A levels in lymphangiogenesis and its usefulness in metastatic malignant melanoma patients. Methods and Patients: using a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, VEGF-A level was measured in sera of 65 patients treated by biochemotherapy with a fully documented history of disease in comparison with 30 healthy controls. Results: A wide range (0- 566 pg/ml) of pretreatment sVEGF-A level was detected in the serum of MMM patients and the median level (40.5 pg/ml) was significantly higher (p=0.0007) than that of healthy donors (7.5 pg/ml). Age, gender and LDH were not associated with sVEGF-A levels. Regarding tumor burden, median pretreatment sVEGF-A level was higher in patients with high tumor burden (n= 40) as compared to patients with low tumor burden (n=25). Furthermore, the most surprising finding of our study was that patients with only lymph node metastasis (n=23) had a significantly (p= 0.021) higher median sVEGF-A levels (45.7 pg/ml) as compared to the 42 patients with different metastatic sites (16.6 pg/ml). Conclusion: these results suggest that sVEGF-A levels may predict lymph node metastasis in metastatic malignant melanoma patients. In addition, it may be promising targets for new therapeutic strategies in melanoma disease. No significant financial relationships to disclose.

7540 Background and Objectives: Angiogenesis is essential for tumor growth & metastasis. It is controlled by angiogenic factors, one of the most important being vascular endothelial growth factor (...

7541 Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptors (VEGFRs) play an essential role in tumor angiogenesis and are closely related with malignancies. However, the prognostic...

7551 Background and aims: Circulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), soluble EGFR and soluble interleukin-6 (IL-6) are associated with metastatic malignant melanoma disease. However, their relationship remains unclear. The aims of this study is to correlate serum IL-6 to sVEGF-A, or EGFR levels and to investigate the clinical significance of these parameters on the overall survival in metastatic malignant melanoma. Methods and Patients: using a sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, VEGF-A, EGFR and IL-6 were measured in sera of 64 patients with a fully documented history of metastatic malignant melanoma patients in comparison with 30 healthy controls. Results: serum levels of VEGF-A, EGFR, and IL-6 were significantly increased in melanoma patients compared with healthy controls (p

7531 Background: high blood levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) appear to be associated with a poor prognosis in advanced cancer, probably as a consequence of its angiogenic and immunosuppressive effects. The prognostic significance of serum VEGF levels and its variation during cancer treatment is still unknown. Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate the clinical usefulness of active serum vascular endothelial growth factor (sVEGF-A) levels in metastatic malignant melanoma patients and to investigate the possible relationship between sVEGF-A variations and clinical response during biochemotherapy. Patients and Treatment: The study included 73 patients with a fully documented history of metastatic malignant melanoma. Biochemotherapy consisted of Cisplatinum, rIL-2 and Alpha-interferon in two induction cycles. The assessment of clinical response was performed according to WHO criteria. Sixty seven patients were evaluable: 43 % (29/67) were responding (RC&RP) and 57 % were non-respo...