[Clinical significance of serum vascular endothelial growth factor and interleukin-17 in patients with multiple myeloma].

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical significance of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin-17 (IL-17) levels in patients with multiple myeloma (MM). 40 newly diagnosed MM patients were enrolled, including 9 in stage I, 18 in stage II, 13 in stage III. 25 patients were treated with VAD regimen, and 15 patients with the bortezomib and dexamethasone (BD) regimen. 20 healthy individuals as controls were enrolled in this study. The serum VEGF and IL-17 levels were determined by ELISA. The results indicated that the serum VEGF and IL-17 levels in the patients with MM were significantly higher than those in healthy controls (P < 0.01). VEGF and IL-17 levels in stage III was significantly higher than that in stage I and II (P < 0.05). There was a positive correlation between IL-17 and serum calcium β2-microglobulin or C-reactive protein (P < 0.01), and there was also a positive correlation between VEGF and serum creatinine serum Bene-Jones protein λ or urinary Bene-Jones protein λ (P < 0.01). Serum VEGF and IL-17 levels significantly decreased in MM patients after treatment, and the serum levels of VEGF and IL-17 was much lower in MM patients treated with VAD regimen than those in patients treated with BD regimen. It is concluded that the detection of serum VEGF and IL-17 levels is helpful to evaluation of the clinical stages and the severity of MM.