Endothelial progenitor cells as an angiogenic biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of lung cancer.

Background: Angiogenesis is mediated by endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) derived from bone-marrow. In this prospective study, we tried to investigate the clinical utility of circulating EPCs in lung cancer (LC) patients.

Materials And Methods: Flow cytometry technique was used to assess circulating EPCs according to the immuno-phenotype CD45 CD34 CD133 CD146 mononuclear cells.