Haemostasis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology Unit, University of Birmingham Centre for Cardiovascular Sciences, Birmingham, UK.
Angiogenesis, a key component of cancer, may be driven by angiogenic growth factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiopoietin-2. Haemoxygenase-1 (HO-1), a haem-degrading enzyme, may have alternative roles in angiogenesis. Levels of plasma HO-1 have not been reported in prostate cancer. We tested the hypothesis of abnormal HO-1 in 30 men with early prostate cancer, compared with 22 men with benign prostate disease (BPD) and 26 men free of prostate disease, and that HO-1 levels would correlate with VEGF, angiopoietin-2, von Willebrand factor (vWf, marking endothelial perturbation) and PSA. Plasma HO-1 was twofold higher in prostate cancer than in the two control groups, while vWf, VEGF and PSA were also raised (all P< 0.02). In the subjects free of prostate disease and in the BPD groups, HO-1 correlated significantly with VEGF (r>0.5, P< 0.02) but the correlation in prostate cancer was not significant (r=0.117, P=0.537). There were no correlations with PSA or the Gleason stage. We conclude that HO-1 is associated with VEGF in health and BPD, but in the presence of prostate cancer, raised levels of both HO-1 and VEGF fail to correlate. This observation may have implications for the pathogenesis of prostate cancer.
Written by:
Blann AD, Balakrishnan B, Ryan P, Lip GY.
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Reference: Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2011 Jan 25. Epub ahead of print.
doi: 10.1038/pcan.2010.56
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 21263452
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