title: Increased serum levels of interleukin-9 correlate to negative prognostic factors in Hodgkin's lymphoma.
abstract: Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL) is characterised by an unbalanced cytokine secretion. Many of these cytokines have been implicated in the regulation of malignant and infiltrating cells. Interleukin-9 (IL-9) has been described to act in an autocrine fashion in HL, stimulating proliferation of the malignant cells. To investigate the potential clinical implication of this observation, a novel ELISA method was used to examine the serum levels of IL-9 in lymphoma patients. High levels of IL-9 were found in the sera from patients with HL (18/44), but not in the sera from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients (3/21) or healthy controls. The highest serum IL-9 levels, up to 3350 pg/ml, were observed in the nodular sclerosis subtype, and there was a correlation between IL-9 levels and the negative prognostic factors advanced stage, B-symptoms, low blood Hb and high erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Furthermore, there was no correlation between serum levels of IL-9 and IL-13, a cytokine where serum levels have been speculated to be of clinical importance. This is the first report showing that IL-9 can be measured in serum samples. A novel correlation between increased serum IL-9 levels, HL and clinical features is shown, suggesting that IL-9 is a candidate factor contributing to the development of HL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fischer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bijman
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Molin
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cormont
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Uyttenhove
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Snick
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sundström
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Enblad
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nilsson
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D018793:Interleukin-13 / Q000097:blood; D016906:Interleukin-9 / Q000097:blood*; D008228:Lymphoma, Non-Hodgkin / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018793:Interleukin-13; D016906:Interleukin-9