title: Cytokines as autocrine growth factors in malignancies.
abstract: Interleukin 6 (IL-6) was originally characterized as a B-cell differentiation factor, responsible for the terminal maturation of activated B cells to immunoglobulin producing cells. Recent works reveal that IL-6 has a wide variety of biological functions on various cells. In particular, IL-6 has been shown to augment the growth of freshly isolated human myeloma cells, and the myeloma cells constitutively produce IL-6 and express IL-6 receptors. Moreover, it has been shown that anti-IL-6 antibody can inhibit the in vitro growth of the myeloma cells. This is direct evidence that an autocrine loop is operating in freshly isolated myeloma cells, and that a constitutive production of IL-6 and activation of the IL-6 gene could be involved in the oncogenesis of human myeloma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Research Institute for Nuclear Medicine, Hiroshima, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kawano
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kuramoto
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirano
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kishimoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D010954:Plasmacytoma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6