A Preliminary Study of Serum Apelin Levels in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer

Objective: Treatment planning is primarily based on the tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging system for head and neck cancer (HNC). However, TNM does not give sufficient information about biological aggressiveness, treatment response, and prognosis. New molecular markers are needed for individualized cancer treatment. Apelin is a bioactive peptide and an endogenous ligand for the G protein-coupled receptor (APJ). Its expression is induced under hypoxic conditions. Apelin and its receptor APJ are important factors in physiological angiogenesis and may be novel targets for anti-angiogenic tumor therapies. This preliminary study aimed to investigate whether there was a difference in serum apelin levels between patients with HNC and control group and also to compare the serum apelin levels before and after radiotherapy.

Materials and Methods: Twenty-two patients with HNC (patient group) and 30 healthy individuals (control group) were included in the study. In the patient group, blood samples were collected before and after radiotherapy. Serum apelin-36 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

Results: Serum apelin-36 levels were significantly higher in patients with HNC than in the control group (p<0.001). Coverage of the measured apelin-36 levels showed a significant decrease after radiotherapy according to the levels before radiotherapy. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups (p>0.05).

Conclusion: Apelin may be a potential therapeutic target and a novel biomarker. Additional studies are needed to reveal the relationships between serum apelin and radiotherapy in solid human tumors.

Cite this article as: Aktan M, Kiziltunc Ozmen H. A Preliminary Study of Serum Apelin Levels in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer. Eurasian J Med 2019; 51(1): 57-9.