Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in sera of oral and oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma patients.

This study was performed to investigate the serum levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer. The study population included 86 patients with untreated cancer of this region. VEGF serum levels varied considerably and showed no correlation to tumour size or locoregional spread. The wide variety of VEGF serum levels make this marker difficult to handle for initial diagnostics or monitoring of therapy.