Fig. 4

Soluble Endoglin and VEGF plasma levels change after resection of rectal tumor sample. Plasma samples from different patients at time 0 and at different time points (3, 6, and 9–12 months) after resection of tumor samples were collected, and levels of sEng in nanograms per milliliter (a) and VEGF in picograms per milliliter (b) were measured by ELISA and compared to time 0. Percentage of VEGF levels downregulated after resection of tumor and accompanied by a constant adjuvance treatment is represented in c, comparing different stages and time; the normalization is done between each time 0 in the specified stage. The number of samples was different between each time point: n = 28 (0), n = 18 (3), n = 7 (6), n = 7 (9 + 12) for sEng determination and n = 35 (0), n = 18 (3), n = 9 (6), n = 6 (9 + 12) for VEGF determination. Dashed lines in a and b graphs indicate the considered normal values levels for each protein. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01 with respect to time 0 unless indicated between specified conditions. sEng, soluble Endoglin; VEGF, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor