Impact of serum interleukin-18 level as a prognostic indicator in patients with epithelial ovarian carcinoma.
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.
Akahiro
Jun-ichi
J
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
Konno
Ryo
R
Ito
Kiyoshi
K
Okamura
Kunihiro
K
Yaegashi
Nobuo
N
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
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D020382:Interleukin-18