Serum tumor markers, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α HIF-1α and vascular endothelial growth factor, in patients with non- small cell lung cancer before and after intervention.

OBJECTIVE To explore changes in the serum tumor makers, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) level and their relations in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) before and after intervention. MATERIALS AND METHODS Forty patients with NSCLC and 40 healthy individuals undergoing physical examination in our hospital provided the observation and control groups. HIF-1α and VEGF levels in serum were detected by enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay (ELISA) in the observation group before and after intervention and in control group on the day of physical examination, along with serum carcino-embryonic antigen (CEA), neuron-specific enolase (NSE) and squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCC) levels in the observation group with a fully automatic biochemical analyzer. Clinical effects and improvement of life quality in the observation group were also evaluated. RESULTS The total effective rate and improvement of life quality after treatment in observation group were 30.0% and 32.5%, respectively. Serum HIF-1α and VEGF levels in the control group were lower than that in observation group (p<0.01), but remarkably elevated after intervention (p<0.01). In addition, serum CEA, NSE and SCC levels were apparently lowered by treatment (p<0.01). Serum HIF-1α demonstrated a positive relation with VEGF level (p<0.01) and was inversely related with CEA, NSE and SCC levels (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS Significant correlations exist between marked increase of serum HIF-1α and VEGF levels and decrease of indexes related to hematological tumor markers in NSCLC patients after intervention.