title: High serum levels of soluble IL-2 receptor, cytokines, and C reactive protein correlate with impairment of T cell response in patients with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer.
abstract: The serum levels of interleukin-(IL-)1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-2, IL-6, TNF alpha, and sIL-2R and the proliferative response of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) to phytohemagglutinin (PHA), anti-CD3 monoclonal antibody (mAb), recombinant IL-2 (rIL-2), and the combination of PHA or anti-CD3 mAb with rIL-2 were studied and correlated with serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in women with advanced epithelial ovarian cancer. The expression of CD25 and CD122 subunities of membrane-bound IL-2R on PHA- or anti-CD3 mAb-stimulated PBMC was also studied. In comparisons with the controls, PBMC response to PHA, anti-CD3 mAb, and rIL-2 was significantly lower in the cancer patients. The addition of exogenous rIL-2 to the PBMC cultures increased response in both controls and patients but did not modify the significance of the differences. After stimulation with PHA or anti-CD3 mAb, the percentage of PBMC CD25+ or CD122+ was significantly lower in patients. The serum levels of IL-1 alpha, IL-1 beta, IL-6, TNF alpha, sIL-2R, and CRP were significantly increased in patients compared to the controls. Instead, no differences were observed for serum levels of IL-2. A strong association was found between high serum levels of the above-mentioned cytokines, sIL-2R, and CRP. The results of our study on advanced stage (IIIb-IV) ovarian cancer patients are consistent with the previously reported hypothesis that high IL-6 and/or CRP serum levels may represent an important and independent prognostic factor of the likely outcome in cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, University of Cagliari, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Macciò
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lai
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Santona
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pagliara
authors.forename: G B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Melis
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mantovani
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011379:Prognosis; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D002097:C-Reactive Protein