Therapeutic approaches for
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) are currently based on the International Prognostic Index (IPI). Research on biological prognostic factors has been actively pursued in recent years, with serum
vascular endothelial growth factor (
VEGF) and
interleukin-6 (IL-6) being identified as prognostic factors for NHL. Here, we determined that serum
VEGF and
IL-6 levels are independent prognostic factors for aggressive
lymphoma. Compared with normal controls, serum
VEGF and
IL-6 levels were significantly higher in patients with aggressive
lymphoma or
adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma. Furthermore, overall and disease-free survival rates for patients with high levels of
VEGF or
IL-6 were significantly poorer than for patients with low levels. In addition, the prognosis for patients with high levels of both serum
VEGF and
IL-6 was significantly poorer than that for patients with high levels of either
VEGF or
IL-6 or with low levels of both
VEGF and
IL-6. Multivariate analyses of a variety of prognostic factors, including the five IPI factors, revealed that serum
VEGF and
IL-6 were both independent prognostic factors for overall survival of aggressive
lymphoma. Therefore, a combination of
VEGF and
IL-6 represents a useful prognostic factor for aggressive
lymphoma.