High systemic IL-6 is associated with worse prognosis in patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Author(s)

Silva, Estela Maria ^[1] ; Mariano, Vania Sammartino ^[1] ; Aguiar Pastrez, Paula Roberta ^[1] ; Pinto, Miguel Cordoba ^[2] ; Castro, Antonio Gil ^{[3, 4]} ; Syrjanen, Kari Juhani ^[5] ; Longatto-Filho, Adhemar ^{[3, 1, 4, 6]}

Affiliation

^[1] Barrettos Canc Hosp, Pio XII Fdn, Teaching & Res Inst, Barretos, SP - Brazil

^[2] Barretos Canc Hosp, Pio XII Fdn, Dept Chest, Barretos, SP - Brazil

^[3] Univ Minho, Res Inst Life & Hlth Sci ICVS, Braga - Portugal

^[4] Govt Portugal, Associated Lab, ICVS 3Bs, Braga - Portugal

^[5] Biohit Oyj, Dept Clin Res, Helsinki - Finland

^[6] Univ Sao Paulo, Fac Med, Dept Pathol, Med Lab Med Invest LIM 14, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: PLoS One; v. 12, n. 7 JUL 17 2017.
• Web of Science Citations: 20

Abstract

Characteristic cytokine patterns have been described in different cancer patients and they are related to their diagnosis, prognosis, prediction of treatment responses and survival. A panel of cytokines was evaluated in the plasma of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and healthy controls to investigate their profile and relationship with clinical characteristics and overall survival. The case-controlled cross-sectional study design recruited 77 patients with confirmed diagnosis of NSCLC (cases) and 91 healthy subjects (controls) aimed to examine peripheral pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, TNF and IFN-gamma) by Cytometry Beads Arrays (CBA Flex) in. The cytokine IL-6 showed a statistically significant difference among groups with increased expression in the case group (p < 0.001). The correlation between the cytokines expression with patient's clinical characteristics variables revealed the cytokine IL-6 was found to be associated with gender, showing higher levels in male (p = 0.036), whereas IL-17A levels were associated with TNM stage, being higher in III-IV stages (p = 0.044). We observed worse overall survival for individuals with high levels of IL-6 when compared to those with low levels of this cytokine in 6, 12 and 24 months. Further studies of IL-6 levels in independent cohort could clarify the real role of IL-6 as an independent marker of prognostic of NSCLC. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/23414-8 - Characterization of the immunological profile of patients with non-small cell lung cancer and its potential association with human papillomavirus
• Grantee: Estela Maria Silva
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master