Abstract:OBJECTIVE: To investigate the correlation between the ratio of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/endostatin (ES) and childhood acute leukemia(AL). METHODS: Serum levels of VEGF and ES were measured using ELISA in 35 children with acute AL before and after chemotherapy. The ratio of VEGF/ES was calculated. Thirty healthy children served as the control group. RESULTS: The serum levels of VEGF (196±66 pg/mL vs 29±10 pg/mL) and ES (35±7 ng/mL vs 19±4 ng/mL) in the AL group before chemotherapy were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.01). The ratio of VEGF/ES in the AL group before chemotherapy was significantly higher than that in the control group (6.7±3.0 vs 1.6±0.7; P<0.01). In 20 children with AL who achieved complete remission, the serum levels of VEGF and ES and the VEGF/ES ratio were reduced after chemotherapy (83±35 pg/mL, 27±5 ng/mL, 3.1±1.3, respectively; P<0.01), although the serum levels of VEGF and ES were still higher than those in the control group (P<0.01). The VEGF/ES ratio in CR patients was not significantly different from that in the control group. The serum levels of VEGF (r=0.301, P=0.045) and the VEGF/ES ratio (r=0.411, P=0.015) were positively correlated with the count of blast cells in juvenile bone marrow in 35 children with AL before chemotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: Serum VEGF and ES levels are associated with the development of childhood AL. The VEGF/ES ratio can be used to evaluate the disease progression in children with AL.
