Elevated plasma big ET‐1 is associated with distant failure in patients with advanced‐stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma

• Published in: Cancer 2006-04, Vol.106 (7), p.1548-1553
• Main Authors: Mai, Hai‐Qiang, Zeng, Zong‐Yuan, Zhang, Chang‐Qing, Feng, Kai‐Tao, Guo, Xiang, Mo, Hao‐Yuan, Deng, Man‐Quan, Min, Hua‐Qing, Hong, Ming‐Huang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; big endothelin‐1; Biological and medical sciences; Biomarkers, Tumor - blood; Carcinoma - pathology; Case-Control Studies; distant metastases; Endothelin-1 - blood; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; nasopharyngeal carcinoma; Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms - pathology; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neoplasm Staging; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; Prognosis; Survival Analysis; Treatment Outcome; Tumors; Upper respiratory tract, upper alimentary tract, paranasal sinuses, salivary glands: diseases, semeiology
• ISSN: 0008-543X; 1097-0142
• DOI: 10.1002/cncr.21790

BACKGROUND Endothelin‐1 (ET‐1) is a potent vasoactive peptide and a hypoxia‐inducible angiogenic growth factor associated with the development and spread of solid tumors. The clinical significance of plasma big ET‐1 in patients with advanced‐stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is not known. METHODS Pretreatment plasma big ET‐1 levels were measured in 62 patients with advanced‐stage NPC using a sandwich enzyme‐linked immunoassay and compared with the levels from a control group (n = 19 participants). RESULTS The median pretreatment plasma big ET‐1 level in patients with advanced‐stage NPC was 4.6 pg/mL (range, 1.9‐15.2 pg/mL) and was significantly elevated compared with median plasma big ET‐1 levels in healthy controls, 2.6 pg/mL (1.6‐4.5 pg/mL) (P < .001). Using the upper limit (4.5 pg/mL) of control subjects as the cut‐off value, plasma big ET‐1 was ≤ 4.5 pg/mL in 29 (46.8%) patients and > 4.5 pg/mL in 33 (53.2%) patients. A pretreatment plasma big ET‐1 level > 4.5 pg/mL was associated with a significantly poorer 2‐year distant metastasis‐free survival rate (56.7% vs. 81.1%, P = .031). Multivariate analysis showed that N classification (hazard ratio [HR], 2.416; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.071‐5.447; P = .034) and pretreatment plasma big ET‐1 level (HR, 3.151; 95% CI, 1.099‐9.028, P = .033) were independent significant prognostic factors for posttreatment distant failure in patients with advanced‐stage NPC. CONCLUSIONS Pretreatment plasma big ET‐1 levels may be useful in predicting posttreatment distant failure in patients with advanced‐stage NPC. Cancer 2006. © 2006 American Cancer Society. Patients with advanced‐stage nasopharyngeal carcinoma had elevated plasma big ET‐1 (endothelin‐1) levels compared with the levels in healthy control participants; high pretreatment plasma big ET‐1 levels generally are associated with posttreatment distant failure.