Cytokine profiling for prediction of symptomatic radiation-induced lung injury.
OBJECTIVE
To analyze plasma cytokine profiles before the initiation of radiation therapy to define a cytokine phenotype that correlates with risk of developing symptomatic radiation-induced lung injury (SRILI).


METHODS
Symptomatic radiation-induced lung injury was evaluated in 55 patients (22 with SRILI and 33 without SRILI), according to modified National Cancer Institute common toxicity criteria. These plasma samples were analyzed by the multiplex suspension bead array system (Bio-Rad Laboratories; Hercules, CA), which included the following cytokines: interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-7, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-17, granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor, interferon-gamma, monocyte chemotactic protein 1, macrophage inflammatory protein 1beta, tumor necrosis factor alpha, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor.


RESULTS
Significant differences in the median values of IL-8 were observed between patients with and without SRILI. Patients who did not develop SRILI had approximately fourfold elevated levels of IL-8 as compared with patients who did subsequently develop SRILI. Significant correlations were not found for any other cytokine in this study, including transforming growth factor beta1.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with lower levels of plasma IL-8 before radiation therapy might be at increased risk for developing SRILI. Further studies are necessary to determine whether IL-8 levels are predictive of SRILI in a prospective trial and whether this marker might be used to determine patient eligibility for dose escalation.
Hart
Justin P
JP
Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA.
Broadwater
Gloria
G
Rabbani
Zahid
Z
Moeller
Benjamin J
BJ
Clough
Robert
R
Huang
Dale
D
Sempowski
Gregory A
GA
Dewhirst
Mark
M
Pizzo
Salvatore V
SV
Vujaskovic
Zeljko
Z
Anscher
Mitchell S
MS
D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016207:Cytokines / Q000097:blood*; D023381:Endpoint Determination; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000097:blood; D008168:Lung / Q000528:radiation effects*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000097:blood / Q000209:etiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000032:analysis
D015415:Biomarkers; D016207:Cytokines; D016209:Interleukin-8; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha