Levels of VE-cadherin increase independently of VEGF in preoperative sera of patients with colorectal cancer.

Aims and background: Vascular endothelial cadherin (VE-cadherin) preserves the tightness of the mature vascular network as a component of endothelial adherens junctions. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) makes VE-cadherin dissociate from complexes with β-catenin, so that endothelial cells can loosely proliferate and migrate. We searched for relationships between VEGF and VE-cadherin levels in preoperative sera of patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). We also compared VE-cadherin levels of control and preoperative CRC sera in relation to clinlcopathological features. Methods: We measured with an ELISA kit the serum levels of the proteins in preoperative samples from 125 CRC patients and in samples from 16 healthy volunteers. Results: Serum VE-cadherin was about fourfold higher in CRC patients than in controls (P <0.00001), with similar results being found in subgroups with different clinicopathological features versus controls. VE-cadherin was not correlated with VEGF in the entire group of CRC patients nor in the subgroups of node-positive and node-negative patients, different grades of histological differentiation (G2 or G3), extent of tumor growth (pT1+pT2 or pT3+pT4), histopathological type (adenocarcinoma or mucinous carcinoma), sex, age, and tumor site (colon or rectum). However, the serum levels of VE-cadherin and VEGF in CRC patients, which were higher than the mean values of controls, tended towards a negative correlation in node-positive patients (P = 0.078, r = -0.279). Conclusions: VEGF and VE-cadherin seem to be independent markers of angiogenesis in CRC with no significant correlation between their serum levels.