title: Serum interleukin 1 in ovarian cancer patients.
abstract: Interleukin-1 (IL-1) is a multifunctional cytokine playing a central role in the immune response and displaying direct cytotoxic activity in vitro. Serum IL-1 alpha and beta levels were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 75 ovarian cancer patients, 30 patients with benign ovarian cysts and 50 healthy controls. Both serum IL-1 alpha and IL-1 beta levels were more often elevated in ovarian cancer patients compared with healthy controls (chi-square test, P < 0.001 and P < 0.001, respectively). Mean serum IL-1 alpha and beta levels decreased significantly after surgical intervention (paired t-test, P = 0.0001 and P = 0.0002, respectively). No correlation with histopathological parameters and overall and disease-free survival was found. These preliminary results indicate that serum levels of IL-1 alpha and beta represent a host defence reaction rather than an autonomous tumour cell production.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, University of Vienna Medical School, General Hospital Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeisler
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tempfer
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Joura
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sliutz
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koelbl
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kainz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000097:blood; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D007375:Interleukin-1