title: Clinical significance of serum TH1/TH2 cytokines in patients with pulmonary adenocarcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The acquisition of immune reaction in the peripheral blood is expected to play a critical role in the prevention of tumor progression. However, the clinical role of the circulating immune response against human cancer remains unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  Serum samples from 68 consecutive patients who underwent resection for pulmonary adenocarcinoma were obtained before the operation. The serum levels of interferon gamma and interleukin 4 were measured and the impact on the clinical features was assessed. According to the predominance of the cytokine levels, the patients were classified into 4 groups: interferon gamma only (T(H)1), interleukin 4 only (T(H)2), both (T(H)0), and neither (T(H)X).
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the T(H)1 group, 18 of 22 patients (81.8%) were free from lymph node metastasis, whereas 5 of 7 patients (71.4%) in the T(H)2 group had lymph node involvements. As a result, 62 patients underwent complete resection, with 9 of 19 patients (47.3%) in the T(H)1 group having recurrence, but no relapse of the disease appearing in the T(H)2 group during the observation period. The disease-free interval for the T(H)2 group was significantly longer than that for the T(H)1 group (44.2 mo vs 26.1 mo, P =.03).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Assessing the serum T(H) profile on the basis of the predominance of the serum interferon gamma or interleukin 4 is important to presume the ongoing responses of T cells against the tumor burden.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamazaki
authors.forename: Tokujiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yano
authors.forename: Toshifumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kameyama
authors.forename: Ryuichi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Suemitsu
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yoshino
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sugio
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000097:blood*; D015847:Interleukin-4 / Q000097:blood*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology*; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015847:Interleukin-4; D007371:Interferon-gamma