Interleukin-8 serum levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma: correlations with clinicopathological features and prognosis.
OBJECTIVE
In this study, we measured the serum interleukin-8 (IL-8) levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to evaluate its correlation with clinicopathological features and prognosis.


METHODS
ELISA was used to detect the concentrations of IL-8, vascular endothelial growth factor, and macrophage migration inhibitory factor in preoperative sera of 59 patients with resection of HCC and 15 healthy subjects.


RESULTS
Preoperative serum IL-8 was found to be significantly elevated in patients with HCC compared with healthy subjects (median, 17.6 versus 1.0 pg/ml, P=0.046). The levels of IL-8 correlated significantly with a large tumor size (>5 cm), absence of tumor capsule, presence of venous invasion, and advanced pathological tumor-node-metastasis stage. Serum IL-8 level was a significant prognostic factor in terms of disease-free and overall survival. Patients with a serum IL-8 level of >17.6 pg/ml had a poorer disease-free survival than those with a level of <17.6 pg/ml (median disease-free survival 4.7 versus 19.2 months). Multivariate analyses showed that serum IL-8 level was a significant and independent prognostic factor of survival.


CONCLUSIONS
Significant correlations of serum IL-8 levels with tumor size and tumor stage suggest that IL-8 may be directly or indirectly involved in the progression of HCC. These findings indicate that serum IL-8 may be a useful biological marker of tumor invasiveness and an independent prognostic factor for patients with HCC.
Ren
Yi
Y
Centre for the Study of Liver Disease and Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong Medical Centre, Hong Kong SAR, China. yren@hkucc.hku.hk
Poon
Ronnie Tung-Ping
RT
Tsui
Hong-Teng
HT
Chen
Wen-Hong
WH
Li
Zhi
Z
Lau
Cecilia
C
Yu
Wun-Ching
WC
Fan
Sheung-Tat
ST
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D008263:Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood
D016209:Interleukin-8; D008263:Macrophage Migration-Inhibitory Factors; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A