Abstract: Objective To determine the serum expression levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), transforming growth factor-beta 1(TGF-β1) and endostatin in patients with non-small cell lung cancer(NSCLC), and to investigate the relationship of them with NSCLC clinical and pathological character and the relationship of them to each other. Methods Serum levels of VEGF,TGF-β1 and endostatin were determined by double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 63 patients with NSCLC before surgery, and the results were compared with those in 26 patients with benign pulmonary lesion and 28 healthy controls. Results The serum levels of VEGF, TGF-β1 and endostatin in NSCLC group were significantly higher than those in benign pulmonary lesion group and healthy control group ( P<0.01 ). The serum levels of VEGF, TGF-β1 and endostatin were closely correlated with cell differentiation, tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage and metastasis ( P<0.05 ), while they were not correlated with histological type, lymph node metastasis, age, sex and smoking or not( P>0.05 ). The serum levels of TGF-β1 and VEGF were positively correlated in NSCLC group (r=0.456, P<0.01 ), and were negatively correlated between endostatin and VEGF and between endostatin and TGF-β1(r=-0.363 and -0.329,P<0.05). Conclusions VEGF, TGF-β1 and endostatin are closely related with NSCLC angiogenesis and poor cell differentiation. For the formation, development and transfer of NSCLC, VEGF, TGF-β1 and endostatin may be useful indicators for the prediction of lung cancer.

Key words: Vascular endothelial growth factor, Transforming growth factor-beta1, Endostatin, Non-small cell lung cancer