The vascular endothelial growth factor as a predictive and prognostic factor in patients with advanced gastric cancer treated with docetaxel, cisplatin, and 5-florouracil (DCF) regimen.

e15191 Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key element stimulating the angiogenesis in solid tumors. In the current study, we aimed to assess the role of plasma VEGF levels as a prognostic and predictive marker for advanced gastric cancer patients treated with a modified docetaxel, cisplatinum and 5-florouracil (DCF) regimen. Methods: Thirty consecutive patients treated with a modified DCF regimen were included in the study. The plasma VEGF levels of the patients before treatment and following two cycles of chemotherapy were assayed. Results: The modified DCF regimen was well tolerated and yielded a median overall survival (OS) time of 9,0 months and 2-year OS rate of 20%. Good performance status, lower pre-treatment VEGF levels,and decrease in VEGF levels following chemotherapy were found to be independent prognostic factors for OS. Conclusions: The results of the current study suggest that the corrected plasma levels of VEGF could be used as a prognostic factor for advanced gastric cancer patients and a decrease in VEGF levels following 2 cycles of chemotherapy as a predictive marker for patients receiving DCF chemotherapy regimen.