International Journal of Hematology and Oncology 2023, Vol 33, Num 4 Page(s): 162-168
Association of Two Angiogenic Genes Polymorphism with Clinical Course and Prognosis of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma in Egyptian Patients

Dina EL DAHSHAN1, Shaymaa SHOLKAMY1, Enass AZZAB1, Mohamed EL WAKIL2, Amr EL SAYED3

1Beni-Suef University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Clinical Pathology, EGYPT
2Beni-Suef University Faculty of Medicine, Department of Oncology, EGYPT
3Beni-Suef University Faculty of Post Graduate Studies for Advanced Science, Department of Biotechnology, Beni-Suef, EGYPT

Keywords: NHL, Angiogenesis, VEGF, bFGF, Gene polymorphism
Angiogenesis is a main process that helps in the growth and survival of many haematopoietic neoplasms one of them is non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHLs). Both the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), are key initiators of angiogenesis, they can act by direct stimulation of tumour cells or by influencing the surrounding microenvironment. Previous studies suggested that their expression affected the course and progression of the disease. The current study aimed to reveal the relationship between the genotyping of VEGF and bFGF genes and the susceptibility to NHL and its’ association with disease course and prognosis. PCR-RFLP technique was used for detection of VEGF (rs3025039), and bFGF (rs308395) mutations in 40 NHL patients and 40 healthy individuals as a control group. Patients carrying the mutant T allele of VEGF gene were more than twice more susceptible to NHL (OR= 2.714, p=0.039), and its presence was also significantly higher in patients with B symptoms (p< 0.001). Moreover, the polymorphic VEGF was significantly higher among patients who did not respond to treatment (42.1%) (p= 0.017). The presence of the polymorphic bFGF mutant G showed significantly higher susceptibility to aggressive histological subtypes of NHL compared to those with indolent subtypes (p= 0.010, OR 17.818), and compared to normal controls (p= 0.014, OR 3.818). These findings imply that polymorphism of angiogenic factors such as VEGF and bFGF are related to clinical characteristics and histological subtype of NHL, which showed prognostic significance that might serve as future markers for tailoring treatment and monitoring response in these patients.