title: A prognostic insight on in vivo expression of interleukin-6 in uterine cervical cancer.
abstract: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a multifunctional cytokine with a growth promoting role in cancers. In an attempt to evaluate the prognostic significance of IL-6, we have studied the localization of this cytokine by immunohistochemical methods in normal, premalignant, and invasive cervical cancers. We stained frozen sections with a monoclonal antibody specific for human IL-6 and demonstrated that tumor cells show positivity with high intensity and stromal cells with moderate intensity. T cells and macrophages, components of the stroma that secrete IL-6, were also looked at. While T cells showed a weak positive correlation, CD68-positive macrophages showed significant positive correlation (P < 0.05) with IL-6 positivity in stroma. The patients were followed up for 40 months after treatment with standard radiotherapy regimen and showed residual tumor where pretreatment IL-6 levels were high. Our results suggest its possible candidature as a prognostic indicator of cervical cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Tumor Biochemistry, Cancer Institute, Adyar, Chennai, India.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Srivani
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nagarajan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000276:immunology* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000276:immunology*; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D018365:Neoplasm, Residual; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000276:immunology*; D011379:Prognosis; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology* / Q000532:radiotherapy; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6