Summary
The plasma concentration of the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-B chain and the plasma platelet factor 4 (PF4) levels were measured in 17 healthy controls and 55 brain tumour patients. In the 17 normal controls, the plasma PDGF-B and PF4 levels were 523 ± 157 pg/ml (mean ± SD) and 84 ± 37 ng/ml, respectively. In the brain tumour patients, these values were 881 ± 854 pg/ml and 93 ± 64 ng/ml, respectively. The plasma PDGF-B concentration was elevated above the upper limit of normal individuals in 12 (22%) of the 55 patients. However, since the corresponding PF4 levels suggested the platelet activation, the increased plasma PDGF-B may have originated from platelets. To address this, platelet releasing experiments were performed on citrated blood samples from 5 normal individuals. The plasma PDGF-B and PF4 levels from the 17 normal controls and those observed in the platelet releasing experiments correlated with a regression line of Y = 240 + 4.86X (Y: PDGF, X: PF4). There were only 6 (11%) patients whose plasma PDGF-B level was elevated above the 95% confidence limit estimated from the corresponding PF4 value. In these patients, the tumour volumes were extensively large, and those elevated PDGF-B values decreased after treatment and became elevated again in three patients with recurrent glioblastoma.
Although the plasma tumour-derived PDGF-B was detected only in an extensively large brain tumour, it might be a useful plasma marker evaluating the effects of therapy and prognosis in such patients.
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Kurimoto, M., Nishijima, M., Hirashima, Y. et al. Plasma platelet-derived growth factor-B chain is elevated in patients with extensively large brain tumour. Acta neurochir 137, 182–187 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02187191
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02187191