Abstract
Background/Aim: Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1)-mediated molecular pathway has been implicated in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) pathogenesis and progression. We aimed to evaluate serum levels of IGF-1, IGF-2 and IGF-binding protein 3 (IGF-BP3) before and after standard treatment in patients with advanced NSCLC and their prognostic and predictive correlations. Patients and Methods: Seventy-three patients were prospectively included. Analysis and quantification of circulating levels of IGF1, IGF2, IGFBP3 were performed by total ELISA in peripheral blood samples at baseline and 3 months post-treatment. Results: The median values of IGF-1 and IGF-1/IGF-BP3 ratios (125.82 vs. 133.4 ng/ml, p=0.087 and 0.01006 vs. 0.01252, p=0.011) were both decreased after treatment. Importantly, the post-treatment value of the ratio was significantly reduced only among responders to treatment (0.01044 from 0.01255, p=0.02). Conclusion: Reduction of IGF-1/IGF-BP3 ratio was statistically significant only among patients with NSCLC who responded to first-line treatment. If validated in larger cohorts, IGF-1/IGFBP3 might be a useful predictive tool for response to chemotherapy in NSCLC.
- Received June 14, 2019.
- Revision received June 27, 2019.
- Accepted June 28, 2019.
- Copyright© 2019, International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. George J. Delinasios), All rights reserved