Clinical significance of vascular endothelial growth factor and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in bladder cancer

Objective To investigate the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in peripheral blood of bladder cancer patients. Methods The following patients who were admitted into Department of Urology, the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University from March 2019 to March 2020 were enrolled: patients originally diagnosed with bladder cancer (an observation group), patients reviewed after the operation of bladder cancer (a control group 1 with relapse of bladder cancer, and a control group 2 without relapse of bladder cancer) and patients who met the criteria for non-tumor and non-inflammatory diseases (a normal group). Their levels of VEGF and NLR levels in peripheral blood were measured for statistical analysis. Results The observation group and control group 1 produced remarkably increased levels of VEGF and NLR, compared with the control group 2 and normal group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in VEGF and NLR levels between the observation group and control group 1 and between the control group 2 and normal group (P<0.05). There were significant differences in VEGF and NLR levels in different tumor stage, grade, diameter and lymph node metastasis in the observation group (P<0.05). There was a positive correlation between VEGF and NLR levels in patients with bladder cancer (r=0.886, P<0.05). Conclusions Monitoring VEGF and NLR in bladder cancer patients can provide evidence for assessment of the pathological features and prognosis of bladder cancer.