title: Impact of serum interleukin-18 level as a prognostic indicator in patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Interleukin-18 (IL-18), a cytokine produced by macrophages, is capable of inducing T-lymphocyte synthesis of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma). In this study, for the first time, the serum concentration of IL-18 and its significance as a prognostic indicator was evaluated in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  The serum IL-18 level was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 69 patients with epithelial ovarian cancer and 8 healthy controls. Relationships between the IL-18 level and clinicopathological features were examined by univariate and multivariate analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median serum IL-18 level in the ovarian cancer patients was 229.6 pg/ml, and the level was significantly elevated compared with that in the normal controls (151.3 pg/ml; P < 0.01). No significant correlations were detected between the IL-18 level and stage or histology (P = 0.08 and P = 0.12, respectively). On univariate analysis, overall survival was shown to be affected by IL-18 serum levels. However, multivariate analysis failed to demonstrate an independent prognostic significance for IL-18 serum levels, while confirming the role of previously established prognostic variables, such as performance status, stage, and residual tumor.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that IL-18 serum levels were elevated in ovarian cancer patients and were correlated with overall survival, although they were shown not to be an independent prognostic factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, 1-1 Seiryo-machi, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8574, Japan. jakahira-tohoku@umin.ac.jp
authors.forename: Jun-ichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Akahiro
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Konno
authors.forename: Kiyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Kunihiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Okamura
authors.forename: Nobuo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Yaegashi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood*; D007564:Japan; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D016019:Survival Analysis; D016387:Women's Health
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D020382:Interleukin-18