Circulating Placental Growth Factor as a Prognostic Biomarker in High-Risk Glioblastoma Patients.

Overview

Authors: Filippo Gagliardi¹, Francesca Roncelli^1,2, Silvia Snider¹, Pierfrancesco De Domenico^1,2, Daniela Boselli³, Simona Di Terlizzi⁴, Chiara Villa⁴, Pietro Mortini^1,2

ORCID iDs: Francesca Roncelli, Pierfrancesco De Domenico, Chiara Villa

Department of Neurosurgery and Gamma Knife Radiosurgery, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy
Tissue Dynamics and Biomarker Signature Discovery, San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, 20132 Milan, Italy
FRACTAL—Flow Cytometry Resource, Advanced Cytometry Technical Applications Laboratory, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, 20132 Milan, Italy

Institutions: IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele (Italy); Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico San Raffaele (Italy); Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (Italy); The San Raffaele Telethon Institute for Gene Therapy (Italy)

Journal: Biomedicines, volume 14, issue 7, article 1628

Dates: received 2 June 2026; accepted 18 July 2026; published online 20 July 2026

Type: Research article · Language: English

License: CC BY

Identifiers: DOI 10.3390/biomedicines14071628 · PMID 42512100 · PMCID PMC13407414 · OpenAlex W7169782997

Open access: gold, a free copy (OpenAlex)

Status: code on request

Categories: human (organism), other condition (population), clinical / translational (subfield)

Methods: Statistics, Connectivity

Keywords: glioblastoma, angiogenesis, blood–brain barrier, prognostic biomarker

Topic: Angiogenesis and VEGF in Cancer (Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology), according to OpenAlex

Citations: not cited yet (Europe PMC); 43 references in the paper

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Angiogenesis in glioblastoma (GBM) is a multifactorial process, and blood–brain barrier disruption enables the detection of circulating mediators. The clinical relevance of circulating placental growth factor (PlGF) in GBM remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the role of PlGF in GBM and its association with disease characteristics and outcomes. Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study on 54 patients with IDH-wildtype GBM. Plasma samples collected at diagnosis and recurrence were analyzed using a multiplex panel of angiogenesis mediators. Associations with clinical, radiological, molecular, and treatment-related variables were assessed, along with survival outcomes. Statistical analysis was performed with R 4.5.0. Results: At baseline, PlGF correlated with multiple angiogenic mediators, including VEGF, IL-6, angiopoietin-1, EGF, FGF, IL-8, and TNF-α. Higher PlGF levels were associated with radiopathological features of tumor biology, including proliferation markers and the FLAIR/contrast enhancement ratio. In high-risk patients (RPA 3–4; n = 33), low baseline PlGF identified a subgroup with significantly longer overall survival (17.6 vs. 8.5 months; log-rank p = 0.031) and retained a protective association in multivariable models. In the overall cohort, this association was weaker and did not reach statistical significance. Exploratory longitudinal analyses suggested an increase in PlGF at recurrence in selected molecular and treatment-defined subgroups, while no association with bevacizumab exposure was observed. Conclusions: Circulating PlGF may reflect tumor biology in GBM and shows prognostic relevance in high-risk patients, where low baseline levels identify a subgroup with improved survival. These findings support PlGF as a candidate circulating biomarker and warrant validation in larger prospective cohorts.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Code

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Data

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Data Availability Statement

De-identified clinical data, plasma assay data, and analysis code are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, subject to institutional and ethical restrictions related to patient privacy.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

Versions

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Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 8 authors, 4 keywords, 43 references.

Cite

This paper

Gagliardi, F., Roncelli, F., Snider, S., De Domenico, P., Boselli, D., Di Terlizzi, S., Villa, C., & Mortini, P. (2026). Circulating Placental Growth Factor as a Prognostic Biomarker in High-Risk Glioblastoma Patients. Biomedicines, 14(7), 1628. https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines14071628

BibTeX

@article{gagliardi2026circulating, author = {Gagliardi, Filippo and Roncelli, Francesca and Snider, Silvia and De Domenico, Pierfrancesco and Boselli, Daniela and Di Terlizzi, Simona and Villa, Chiara and Mortini, Pietro}, title = {{Circulating Placental Growth Factor as a Prognostic Biomarker in High-Risk Glioblastoma Patients}}, journal = {Biomedicines}, year = {2026}, month = jul, volume = {14}, number = {7}, pages = {1628}, publisher = {Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)}, issn = {2227-9059}, doi = {10.3390/biomedicines14071628}, url = {https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines14071628}, pmid = {42512100}, pmcid = {PMC13407414} }

RIS

TY - JOUR AU - Gagliardi, Filippo AU - Roncelli, Francesca AU - Snider, Silvia AU - De Domenico, Pierfrancesco AU - Boselli, Daniela AU - Di Terlizzi, Simona AU - Villa, Chiara AU - Mortini, Pietro TI - Circulating Placental Growth Factor as a Prognostic Biomarker in High-Risk Glioblastoma Patients T2 - Biomedicines J2 - Biomedicines PY - 2026 DA - 2026/07/20 VL - 14 IS - 7 SP - 1628 SN - 2227-9059 PB - Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) DO - 10.3390/biomedicines14071628 UR - https://doi.org/10.3390/biomedicines14071628 LA - en ER -

CSL-JSON

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