Correlation of interleukin 6 with interleukin 1alpha in human mammary tumours, but not with oestrogen receptor expression.
The authors hypothesized that IL-6 production by breast tumour tissues would correlate with OR-positivity, as only those tumours that contain oestrogen receptors (OR) and use oestrogen as a mitogen would benefit from locally increased oestrogen. IL-6 increases the activity of the 17beta-oxidoreductase, which converts oestrone to oestradiol, a process that may contribute to the increased concentration of oestrogen around breast tumours. IL-1alpha upregulates IL-6 production; therefore, the correlation between IL-1alpha and IL-6 immunoreactivity and OR-positivity in paraffin-embedded human breast tumours was further investigated.The results indicate IL-6 immunoreactivity in 40 of 66 paraffin embedded breast tumour specimens, a finding which did not correlate with the clinical evaluation of oestrogen receptor positivity (P=0.32 by Fisher's exact test). However, there was a correlation between IL-6 and IL-1alpha immunoreactivity (P<0.05). To study an in vitro model for this phenomenon, the IL-6 immunoreactivity in available cell lines was tested. Surprisingly, no production of IL-6 protein or mRNA could be detected in any of the cell lines, and this did not change with IL-1alpha stimulation. Therefore, none of the cell lines apparently reflected the immunological potential observed in the majority of surgical specimens.
Department of Tumor Biology, The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030, USA.
E K
EK
Robinson
N
N
Sneige
E A
EA
Grimm
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007375:Interleukin-1 / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
D007375:Interleukin-1; D015850:Interleukin-6; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen