Correlation between CT perfusion imaging and VEGF, and CD105 expressions in solitary pulmonary nodules

Objective To explore the association of CT perfusion parameters to plasma levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and CD105 in patients with lung cancer to provide a reference for the treatment of patients with vascular targeting anti-selection. Methods Forty eight consecutive patients with diagnosed solitary pulmonary nodules underwent perfusion by 64-slice spiral CT. Among them, 31 patients were diagnosed as lung cancers and 17 diagnosed as benign lesions. Statistical methods were used to analyze the differences of CT perfusion parameters [blood flow (BF), blood volume (BV), permeability surface (PS), and mean transit time (MTT)] between benign and malignant lesions, and to observe the correlation between cancer perfusion parameters and VEGF, and CD105. Results Compared to the group of benign lesions, the perfusion parameters BF, BV, and PS in the group of lung cancers were significantly higher than the group of benign lesions (P 0.05). There were positive correlations between the expressions of VEGF or CD105 and perfusion parameters (BF, BV, and PS) of lung cancers. There were no correlation between perfusion parameter MTT and VEGF or CD105 (P>0.05). Conclusions CT perfusion parameters BF, BV, and PS can help in differentiating malignant from begin lesions. There is positive correlation between the perfusion parameters (BF, BV, and PS) and VEGF, and CD105 of lung cancers. It indicates that CT perfusion imaging is closely related to tumor angiogenesis, which may provide a non-invasive method to evaluate the blood supply. Key words: Coin lesion, pulmonary/RA/ME; Tomography, X-ray computed; Vascular endothelial growth factors/ME; Vascular cell adhesion molecule-1/ME