Serum interleukin-10 levels are an independent prognostic factor for patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma.
OBJECTIVE
Interleukin-10 (IL-10) is a pleiotropic cytokine which increases bcl-2 levels and protects cells from steroid or doxorubicin-induced apoptosis. Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells bear functional IL-10 receptors. Thus serum IL-10 (sIL-10) might inhibit apoptosis in HRS cells, which could occur as a result of either chemotherapy or the crippled immunoglobulin genes.


METHODS
We determined sIL-10 levels in 122 patients with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL), treated with ABVD or equivalent regimens with or without radiotherapy, and correlated them with presenting clinical and laboratory features, as well as failure-free survival (FFS) and overall survival.


RESULTS
Elevated sIL-10 levels ( > or = 10 pg/mL) were detected in 55 patients (45%), and were correlated with advanced stage and elevated serum b2-microglobulin levels. At 7 years FFS was 85% vs. 63% for patients with normal vs. elevated sIL-10 levels, respectively (p=0.01); overall survival was 97% vs. 73% (p=0.005). Multivariate analysis with Cox's proportional hazards model demonstrated that elevated sIL-10 levels were the strongest independent predictor of FFS, and were also associated with inferior overall survival.


CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that sIL-10 levels are elevated in 45% of patients with HL, and are associated with inferior FFS and overall survival, independently of other established prognostic factors.
Hematology Section, First Department of Internal Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Laikon General Hospital, Athens, Greece.
T P
TP
Vassilakopoulos
G
G
Nadali
M K
MK
Angelopoulou
M P
MP
Siakantaris
M N
MN
Dimopoulou
F N
FN
Kontopidou
G Z
GZ
Rassidakis
I A
IA
Doussis-Anagnostopoulou
M
M
Hatzioannou
G
G
Vaiopoulos
C
C
Kittas
A H
AH
Sarris
G
G
Pizzolo
G A
GA
Pangalis
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate
D015415:Biomarkers; D016753:Interleukin-10