BMC Cancer 2009, 9:421 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2407/9/421 Table 2: The relationship between clinicopathological factors and plasma VEGF levels Plasma VEGF Levels, pg/mL Median 25-75% Quartile p Value Characteristics Age <60 >60 Sex Male Female Smoking Smokers Never-smokers ECOG 1 2-3 Histology SCC ADC Stage III IV Tumor Size <3 cm >3 cm T Factor T2-T3 T4 N Factor N0-N1 N2-N3 M Factor M0 M1 Tobacco Yes No No. (%) 79 (59) 55 (41) 121 (90.3) 13 (9.7) 108 (80.6) 26 (19.4) 39 (29.1) 95 (70.9) 103 (76.9) 31 (23.1) 87 (64.9) 47 (35.1) 44 (32.8) 90 (67.2) 66 (49.2) 68 (50.8) 65 (48.5) 69 (51.5) 87 (64.9) 47 (35.1) 25 (18.7) 109 (81.3) 267.4 262.7 264.0 338.4 273.9 257.1 225.7 282.0 276.0 262.0 251.4 276.0 172.4 339.9 270.9 263.0 245.7 285.7 251.4 276.0 252.3 267.4 169.5 - 454.0 146.6-385.4 154.0 - 392.6 262.0 - 459.4 173.7 - 442.7 120.7 - 354.5 108.6 - 354.5 182.3 - 446.0 169.5 - 439.5 132.3 - 338.4 149.0 - 433.4 214.0 - 399.4 93.0 - 262.0 218.0 - 484.5 149.0 - 379.0 157.6 - 439.7 121.4 - 360.7 192.0-439.5 149.0 - 433.4 214.0 - 399.4 185.7 - 354.5 154.0 - 433.4 0.465 0.151 0.144 0.062 0.147 0.250 0.001 0.653 0.082 0.250 0.524 VEGF, vascular endothelial growth factor; ECOG, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group; NSCLC, non-small cell lung cancer; SCC, squamous cell carcinoma; ADC, adenocarcinoma; T, tumor; N, node; M, metastasis 14 (33.3%) showed progression, and 12 (28.6%) had sta- ble disease. The median survival time was 370 days (95% CI = 289.6-450.4). Kaplan-Meier curves for overall sur- vival showed highly significant differences in patients with remission (R), and no change (NC) or progression (P) at time of staging investigations after the third therapy cycle (p < 0.0029 between R and NC; p < 0.0001 between R and P; Figure 1A) with median survival times of 528 (R), 328 (NC), and 327 (P) days, respectively. There was no difference in overall survival time between patients with no change and progression (p = 0.2857). For evaluation 1, when patients with remission and stable disease (R+NC) were compared with patients having progressive disease (P), a significant difference in overall survival was observed with median survival times 416 (R+NC) and 327 (P) days (p < 0.0005; Figure 1B). When patients with remission (R) were compared with patients having pro- gressive and stable disease (P+NC; evaluation 2), median survival times were 528 (R) and 328 (P+NC) days (p < 0.0001; Figure 1C). We also examined univariate survival analysis for varia- bles including age, stage, T factor, nodal status, perform- ance status, histology, smoking and tobacco habits and plasma VEGF levels (Table 3). Patients with a pre-treat- ment plasma VEGF levels < 275.2 pg/mL (median value) had a median survival of 348.0 days (95% CI = 246.1- 449.9), while those with ≥ 275.2 had a median survival of 370.0 (95% CI = 288.3-451.7). The pre-treatment plasma VEGF levels did not correlate with survival (p = 0.8852). We observed a significant correlation between tobacco habit and survival time (p = 0.022; Table 3). However, no correlation between other prognostic factors with survival was observed (Table 3). Page 4 of 12 (page number not for citation purposes)