title: Interleukin-6 serum level correlates with survival in advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients but is not an independent prognostic indicator.
abstract: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine that has been shown to regulate immune defense mechanisms and hematopoiesis. In addition, IL-6 may also be involved in malignant transformation and tumor progression. A poor prognosis in patients with multiple myeloma, renal cell carcinoma, ovarian cancer, or prostate cancer has been associated consistently with elevated IL-6 serum levels. The aim of this study was, therefore, to assess IL-6 serum levels in 68 advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients and to correlate them with prognosis. IL-6 serum levels were found to be significantly elevated in cancer patients with respect to controls. Moreover, patients with disseminated cancer displayed significantly higher IL-6 serum levels than patients without apparent metastases. On univariate analysis, both overall survival (OS) and time to disease progression (TTP) were shown to be affected by IL-6 serum levels. However, multivariate analysis failed to demonstrate an independent prognostic significance for IL-6 serum levels while confirming the role of previously established variables, such as performance status, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) serum levels, and distant metastases. In conclusion, this study showed that IL-6 serum levels were elevated in advanced gastrointestinal cancer patients and correlated with both OS and TTP. However, they were shown not to be an independent prognostic factor.
authors.affiliation: Division of Internal Medicine, F. Magrassi Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Second University of Naples School of Medicine, Naples, Italy. orditura@sirio-oncology.it
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Vita
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Orditura
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Galizia
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martinelli
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lieto
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Catalano
mesh_terms: D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality*; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005472:Fluorouracil / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012737:Sex Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality*; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D000964:Antimetabolites, Antineoplastic; D015850:Interleukin-6; D005472:Fluorouracil