Daily low-dose/continuous capecitabine combined with neo-adjuvant irradiation reduces VEGF and PDGF-BB levels in rectal carcinoma patients

Figures & data

Table I.  Levels of sVEGF, sPDGF-BB, and PLT counts, at three consecutive time-points (T.P.s).

	sVEGF (pg/ml) mean (S.D.) (range)			sPDGF-BB (pg/ml) mean (S.D.) (range)			Platelets (N°×10^3) mean (S.D.) (range)
Rectal Carcinoma patients (N° 32)	T.P.1.*	T.P.2.**	T.P.3.***	T.P.1.*	T.P.2.**	T.P.3.***	T.P.1.*	T.P.2.**	T.P.3.***
	474 (279)	340 (186)	431 (228)	4320 (1863)	2345 (978)	3284 (1525)	318 (120)	241 (66)	265 (67)
	(83–1270)	(90–822)	(79–985)	(1607–9049)	(1033–4378)	(1486–8414)	(144–734)	(136–359)	(165–384)
Difference between T.P.s	p < 0.0001^K		p < 0.0001^L	p < 0.0001^K		p < 0.0001^L	p = 0.05^K		p = N.S.^L

*T.P.1.: before any treatment; **T.P.2.: by the end of radiotherapy + / − capecitabine; ***T.P.3.: following the rest period; ^Kchanges between time-points 1. and 2.; ^Lchanges between time-points 2. and 3.; N.S.=not significant.

Figure 1.  Serum levels of VEGF at three time-points: 1. before chemo-irradiation; 2. at the end of chemo-irradiation; 3. following a rest-period with no treatment; Value of mean is indicated in the graph at each time point.

Figure 2.  Serum levels of PDGF-BB at three time-points: 1. before chemo-irradiation; 2. at the end of chemo-irradiation; 3. following a rest-period with no treatment; Value of mean is indicated in the graph at each time point.