Observational studyBMJ open2015
Vascular endothelial growth factor as a predictive marker for POEMS syndrome treatment response: retrospective cohort study.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Lenalidomide Treatment for Thalidomide-refractory POEMS Syndrome: A Prospective Single-arm Clinical Trial.Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) · 2020Trial
- Autologous stem cell transplantation in POEMS syndrome: Multicenter real-world treatment patterns and outcomes.Bone marrow transplantation · 2026Article
- Article
- Unicentric Castleman disease following POEMS syndrome remission.Journal of hematopathology · 2025Article
- Requirement of Repeated Serum VEGF Measurements in POEMS Syndrome.Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) · 2025Article
- Clinical and biochemical characteristics for patients with polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M-protein, and skin changes syndrome: a pilot observational study.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Surgical revascularization for quasi-moyamoya disease associated with polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, monoclonal gammopathy, and skin changes (POEMS) syndrome: a case report and literature review.Nagoya journal of medical science · 2023Review
- Polyneuropathy organomegaly endocrinopathy M-protein and skin changes syndrome with ascites as an early-stage manifestation: A case report.World journal of clinical cases · 2023Article
- Case report: POEMS syndrome masquerades as diabetic foot.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Article
- Combined Therapy with Ixazomib, Lenalidomide, and Dexamethasone for Polyneuropathy, Organomegaly, Endocrinopathy, Monoclonal Gammopathy, and Skin Changes Syndrome.Internal medicine (Tokyo, Japan) · 2022Article
- POEMS Syndrome - A Diagnostic Dilemma with Challenging Presentation.Journal of community hospital internal medicine perspectives · 2022Article
- Leave It to the Prose: A Case of POEMS Syndrome.Cureus · 2021Article
- Successful second autologous stem-cell transplantation for patients with relapsed and refractory POEMS syndrome.Bone marrow transplantation · 2021Article
- Reliability of optic disc edema area in estimating the severity of papilledema in patients with POEMS syndrome.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2020Article
- POEMS syndrome: a unique presentation and a diagnostic challenge.BMJ case reports · 2019Article
- Article
- POEMS syndrome: clinical update.Journal of neurology · 2019Review
- Characteristics of 1946 Cases of POEMS Syndrome in Chinese Subjects: A Literature-Based Study.Frontiers in immunology · 2019Review
- Peripheral Demyelinating Diseases: From Biology to Translational Medicine.Frontiers in neurology · 2019Review
- An update on the diagnosis and management of the polyneuropathy of POEMS syndrome.Journal of neurology · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivePOEMS (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M-protein and skin changes) syndrome is a rare multisystem disease characterised by plasma cell dyscrasia and overproduction of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF is assumed to be useful in monitoring disease activity, because VEGF levels usually decrease after treatment. However, there is no study to investigate whether the extent of decrease in VEGF correlates with clinical outcome. We tested the predictive efficacy of serum VEGF levels in POEMS syndrome.
methodThis was an institutional review board approved retrospective observational cohort study of 20 patients with POEMS monitored regularly for more than 12 months (median follow-up, 87 months) after treatment onset using our prospectively accumulated database of POEMS from 1999 to 2015. Patients were treated by autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation or thalidomide administration. Serum VEGF was measured by ELISA. Outcome measures included clinical and laboratory findings and relapse-free survival.
resultsSerum VEGF levels decreased rapidly after treatment, and stabilised by 6 months post treatment. Patients with normalised serum VEGF levels (<1040 pg/mL) at 6 months showed prolonged relapse-free survival (HR=12.81, 95% CI 2.691 to 90.96; p=0.0001) and greater later clinical improvement. The rate of serum VEGF reduction over the first 6 months post treatment correlated with increased grip strength, serum albumin levels, and compound muscle action potential amplitudes at 12 months.
conclusionsSerum VEGF level at 6 months post treatment is a predicative biomarker for disease activity and prognosis in POEMS syndrome. Serum VEGF could be used as a surrogate endpoint for relapse-free survival or clinical or laboratory improvement of POEMS syndrome for clinical trials.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.