Prognostic significance of serum VEGF, leptin, endostatin in pediatric lymphomas

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether serum vascularendothelial factor (VEGF), leptin and endostatin levels change in children with Non-Hodgkin?s (NHL) and Hodgkin?s lymphoma (HL) and to evaluate their prognosticsignificance.Serum samples of 21 children with NHL and 15 children with HL werecollected at diagnosis and at the end of the therapy when the patients were incomplete remission. In children with NHL, pre-treatment VEGF levels were higher inpatients than in controls (p=0.029). Pre-treatment levels of endostatin (p= 0.000) andleptin (p=0.001) were suppressed compared to controls. In children with HL we founda significant elevation of serum VEGF levels (p=0.05). Serum endostatin wassubnormal (p=0.000) and leptin was unaffected (p=0.406). Endostatin (p= 0.04) andleptin (p=0.003) increased after the treatment in children with NHL. There was nosignificant change in the levels of these two factors, relative to the pretherapy valuesin Hodgkin?s lymphoma patients. Elevation in VEGF levels after the therapy didn?treach significance in either patient cohort. Neither pre-therapy nor post-therapyVEGF, endostatin and leptin levels were predictive of survival in children with Non-Hodgkin?s or Hodgkin?s lymphoma.Serum VEGF levels were elevated, endostatin and leptin levels weresuppressed in children with malignant lymphoma. Remission correlated withsignificant changes in VEGF, leptin and endostatin concentrations in NHL patients.Pediatric lymphomas seem to have quite distinct angiogenic profile which might resultfrom down regulation of physiological angiogenesis inhibitors.