April 2019 · Volume 8 · Issue 4 Page 1700 International Journal of Reproduction, Contraception, Obstetrics and Gynecology Egiz M et al. Int J Reprod Contracept Obstet Gynecol. 2019 Apr;8(4):1700-1705 www.ijrcog.org pISSN 2320-1770 | eISSN 2320-1789 Review Article Vascular endothelial growth factor correlation with clinicopathological parameters in ovarian cancer Mahy Egiz*, Alaa Masoud, Hamed Ellakwa, Mohamed Adel Elsayed INTRODUCTION Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy and the fifth most common cause of cancer-related death in women. 1 Cancer has the ability to spread to adjacent or distant organs resulting in life-threatening conditions. 2 For the metastatic spread of cancer tissue, the growth of the vascular network is important which is known by angiogenesis and lymphangiogenesis. 3 Angiogenic and lymphangiogenic factors are increasingly receiving attention, especially in the field of neoplastic vascularization. 4 Angiogenesis is regulated by both activator and inhibitor molecules. More than a dozen different proteins have been identified. Levels of expression of angiogenic factors reflect the aggressiveness of tumor cells. 5,6 Among these, the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family and its receptors represent a key pathway. High levels of VEGF in serum and ascites, and high VEGF expression on ovarian carcinoma tumors, have been associated with ovarian tumor progression and poor prognosis. 3,7-11 Authors aimed in the present review to discuss the relevance of serum levels of VEGF in patients with EOC with clinicopathological characteristics. Therefore, VEGF can be a promising prognostic biomarker for EOC patients. OVARIAN CANCER Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is the most lethal gynecologic malignancy and the fifth most common cause of cancer-related death in women. The estimated annual incidence of this disease worldwide is just over 200,000 individuals, with approximately 125,000 deaths. 1 Ovarian cancer is often called ‘silent cancer’ because of ABSTRACT Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is one of the most lethal gynaecologic malignancies with an increasing incidence worldwide; there is an increasing need for the identification of novel prognostic biomarkers in EOC patients. Given the key role of angiogenesis and growth factors in the biology of tumorigenesis, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is considered a milestone in the process of ovarian cancer progression and invasiveness. Authors aimed in the present study to evaluate the relevance of serum level of VEGF with clinicopathological parameters in patients with EOC. VEGF is reported to be correlated with variable parameters in EOC patients including International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) classification, lymph nodal involvement and ascites formation. In the following review, authors discussed these correlations and distinguished the possible future role of VEGF as a promising prognostic biomarker for EOC patients. Keywords: Angiogenesis, Epithelial ovarian cancer, Ovarian cancer, Vascular endothelial growth factor Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Menoufia University, Graduate School of Medicine, Menoufia, Egypt Received: 09 March 2019 Accepted: 19 March 2019 *Correspondence: Dr. Mahy Egiz, E-mail: mahyegiz@yahoo.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20191247