AIM:To detect the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)and soluble splice variant 6 of CD44 (sCD44v6) levels inascites and to explore their role in differentiating benignfrom malignant ascites.METHODS:Cirrhotic ascites (n=36),tuberculosis ascites(n=8) and malignant ascites (n=23) were collected andstudied.Concentrations of soluble VEGF and sCD44v6 invarious kinds of ascites (n=67) were measured using asandwich enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay.RESULTS:VEGF and sCD44v6 levels in malignant asciteswere 640.74±264.81 pg/ml and 89.22±38.20 ng/ml,respectively,both of which were significantly higher thanthose in cirrhotic ascites and tuberculous ascites (q=18.98,11.89 and q=8.92,5.09;P<0.01).However,the levels ofVEGF and sCD44v6 in cirrhotic and tuberculous ascites hadno significant difference (q=0.48,0.75;P>0.05).Furthermore,VEGF levels in malignant ascites in patientswith ovarian cancer were higher than those with gastric andcolon cancer (q=5.03,6.79;P<0.01,respectively).Butdifferences of VEGF levels between gastric and colon cancerwere not significant (q=1.90,P>0.05).Whereas,sCD44v6levels in malignant ascites from patients with ovarian,gastricand colon cancer had no significant difference (q=0.06,0.91,0.35;P>0.05,respectirely).In comparison with cirrhotic andtuberculous ascites,when the upper limit of its VEGF meanlevels 119.44 pg/ml (70.90±48.54) and sCD44v6 mean levels63.59 ng/ml (44.42±19.17) was taken as the minimum cutofflimit,the sensitivity and specificity of VEGF and sCD44v6 ofthis assay to the diagnos is of malignant ascites were91.3 %,90.9 % and 73.9 %,88.7 % respectively.CONCLUSION:Elevated levels of VEGF and sCD44v6 may beuseful in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ascites. AIM: To detect the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and soluble splice variant 6 of CD44 (sCD44v6) levels in ascites and to explore their role in differentiating benignfrom malignant ascites. METHODS: Cirrhotic ascites (n = 36), tuberculosis ascites (n = Concentrations of VEGF and sCD44v6 levels in malignant asciteswere 640.74 ± 264.81 pg / ml and 89.22 ± 38.20 ng / ml, respectively, both of which were significantly higher thanthose in cirrhotic ascites and tuberculous ascites (q = 18.98,11.89 and q = 8.92,5.09; P <0.01) .Wever, the levels of VEGF and sCD44v6 in cirrhotic and tuberculous ascites hadno significant difference (q = 0.48,0.75; P> 0.05) .Furthermore, VEGF levels in malignant ascites in patients with ovarian cancer were higher than those with gastric andcolon cancer (q = 5.03,6.79; 0.01, respectively) .Butdifferen ces of VEGF levels between gastric and colon cancerwere not significant (q = 1.90, P> 0.05) .Whereas, sCD44v6levels in malignant ascites from patients with ovarian, gastricand colon cancer had no significant difference (q = 0.06,0.91,0.35; 0.05, respectirely) .In comparison with cirrhotic andtuberculous ascites, when the upper limit of its VEGF meanlevels 119.44 pg / ml (70.90 ± 48.54) and sCD44v6 mean levels63.59 ng / ml (44.42 ± 19.17) was taken as the minimum cutoff limit, the sensitivity and specificity of VEGF and sCD44v6 of this assay to the diagnosis of malignant ascites were 91.3%, 90.9% and 73.9%, 88.7% respectively. CONCLUSION: Elevated levels of VEGF and sCD44v6 may be useful in differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ascites .