Comparison of interleukin-6 levels in the bone marrow of multiple myeloma patients with disease severity and clonogenicity in vitro.
Fifteen of 25 bone marrow aspirates from 23 patients who presented or had been treated for multiple myeloma at the Royal Marsden Hospital produced myeloma colonies (MY-CFUc) in vitro. There was no correlation between disease severity and the level of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in bone marrow plasma nor was there any evidence that the level of IL-6 was higher in bone marrow aspirates from patients whose tumour produced MY-CFUc in vitro compared with those who did not. The mean level of IL-6 in the whole group of patients was 0.41 ng/ml (range 0.1-0.66 ng/ml), a value similar to that found in plasma from normal donor bone marrow, 0.42 ng/ml (range 0.14-0.62 ng/ml). Separation of peripheral blood cells from serum 24 h after collection, compared with 2 h after collection, resulted in a substantial increase of IL-6 in the serum. The results suggest that levels of IL-6 in bone marrow plasma is not a monitor of disease severity in multiple myeloma (MM) and that the collection and separation of blood and/or bone marrow samples into the cellular and aqueous components should be performed using standardized conditions to minimize inter-sample variation resulting from the release of IL-6 from the cellular components.
Bell
J B
JB
Cancer Research Campaign Section of Medicine, Institute of Cancer Research, Sutton, Surrey, UK.
Montes
A
A
Gooding
R
R
Riches
P
P
Cunningham
D
D
Millar
B C
BC
D000971:Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000378:metabolism*; D016026:Bone Marrow Transplantation; D002999:Clone Cells; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000032:analysis*; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy
D015850:Interleukin-6