title: Interleukin-6 in multiple myeloma: correlation with disease activity and Ki-67 proliferation index.
abstract: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is supposed to be a growth factor in multiple myeloma (MM). Applying a bioassay and a modified ELISA, we measured serum IL-6 values in 64 patients with overt MM, seven patients with smouldering myeloma (SMM), 57 patients with monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and 40 healthy volunteers as controls. IL-6 failed to discriminate between MGUS and MM, stage I, whereas comparison of MM, stage I and stage II/III (p = 0.0143), or comparison of stable disease/remission and progressive disease (p < 0.0001) revealed significant differences. Furthermore, we found significantly higher IL-6 values in overt MM compared to SMM (p = 0.0018). Using a Ki67/CD38 immunohistological double staining method we found a significant correlation between proliferation of bone marrow myeloma cells and serum IL-6 values in 15 patients (p = 0.005). These data demonstrate that IL-6 is a parameter of disease activity in MM and, beside its role in tumor biology, may become a valuable supplement to the established risk factors when selecting patients with unfavourable clinical course for more aggressive treatment modalities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, University Hospital, Innsbruck, Austria.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thaler
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fechner
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Herold
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huber
mesh_terms: D001681:Biological Assay; D001706:Biopsy; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology*; D002455:Cell Division; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D009101:Multiple Myeloma / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D010265:Paraproteinemias / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D012016:Reference Values
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins