Once the investigators have all the data of the patients included in the study, and the ELISA analysis of the serum and tissue VEGF levels has been performed, we hope to determine a threshold level of VEGF in blood and tissue that modifies the prognostic implications of the presence of ganglionic micrometastasis, which increases the viability of these implants.
If the investigators determine this threshold and demonstrate that high levels of this molecule, both in blood and tissue, increase the rate of recurrence in patients with lymph node micrometastases, would be suggested a change in the indications for adjuvant treatment in patients in whom it is not currently indicated (stages I-IIA and IIB without other factors of poor prognosis) considering that they have an independent bad prognostic factor such as a high level (above our threshold) of VEGF. This allows the investigators to select those patients who would benefit from chemotherapy treatment despite not being indicated according to the current treatment guidelines (NCCN 2018).
