title: Serum interleukin-6 concentrations as predictive factor of time to progression in metastatic malignant melanoma patients treated by biochemotherapy: a retrospective study.
abstract: This retrospective study sought to evaluate the impact of IL-6 concentration on time to progression in advanced melanoma. One hundred and thirty-five patients were included, serum IL-6 levels were determined before (Day 0), at the end of the treatment (Day 49) and at recurrence: the relationship between IL-6 concentration and time to progression (TTP) was also evaluated. The baseline median serum IL-6 level was 16.5 pg/ml. When disease progression was observed, an increase in serum IL-6 level was noted. In order to establish the possible relationship between IL-6 level and TTP, patients were divided into two groups (low and high) using the median IL-6 level (16.5 pg/ml) detected in the pretreatment serum of overall patients as a cut-off. Sixty patients were in the low IL-6 group and 56 patients in the high IL-6 group. Time to progression was calculated from the beginning of treatment to recurrence, and analyzed using the Kaplan-Meier method. Patients with low IL-6 serum concentration showed a significantly (p<0.00001) higher median TTP than patients with high IL-6 level. Patients maintaining a low IL-6 level during the treatment showed the longest median TTP compared with those supporting high levels (24.4 versus 5.5 months). Taken together, our results showed that serum IL-6 level could be considered a predictive marker of recurrent disease in metastatic malignant melanoma.
authors.affiliation: Medical Oncology Department, Salpetriere Hospital, AP-HP Paris, France.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mouawad
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rixe
authors.forename: Jean-Baptiste
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Meric
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Khayat
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Soubrane
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012008:Recurrence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D016207:Cytokines; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D007376:Interleukin-2; D015850:Interleukin-6; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase