Purpose: Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) is a potent angiogenic factor; preoperative blood levels have been shown to correlate with disease stage and prognosis in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. In addition, some CRC’s express HGF receptor which suggests HGF might directly stimulate tumor growth. The impact of minimally invasive colorectal resection (MICR) on plasma HGF levels during the first month after surgery is unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine plasma HGF levels after MICR in a population of CRC patients.
Methods: Clinical and operative data was collected. Blood samples were obtained in all patients preoperatively (PreOp) and on postoperative day (POD) 1 and 3; in some patients blood samples were also taken during the second (POD 7-14) and third weeks (POD 15-21) after surgery. The late samples were bundled and considered as single time points. HGF levels were determined via ELISA in duplicate. The student t-test was used to analyze the data (significance, p
Session: Poster
Program Number: P136