Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a major mediator of angiogenesis involving in carcinogenesis, including lung cancer. We hypothesized that VEGF polymorphisms may affect survival outcomes among locally advanced non-small cell lung cancer (LA-NSCLC) patients.

We genotyped three potentially functional VEGF variants [-460 T>C (rs833061), -634 G>C (rs2010963), and +936 C>T (rs3025039)] and estimated haplotypes in 124 Caucasian patients with LA-NSCLC treated with definitive radiotherapy. We used Kaplan-Meier log-rank tests, and Cox proportional hazard models to evaluate the association between VEGF variants and overall survival (OS).

Gender, Karnofsky's performance scores (KPS) and clinical stage seemed to influence the OS. The variant C genotypes were independently associated with significantly improved OS (CT+CC vs. TT: adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 0.58; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.37-0.92, P = 0.022), compared with the VEGF -460 TT genotype.

Our study suggests that VEGF -460 C genotypes may be associated with a better survival of LA-NSCLC patients after chemoradiotherapy. Large studies are needed to confirm our findings.

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