title: Tumour necrosis factor-alpha: prognostic role and relationship with interleukin-8 and endothelin-1 in non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: Cytokines mediate numerous physiological and immune reactions, which are manifested in various biological effects, including tumouricidal activity. We evaluated the expression of the pleiotropic cytokine, tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), by competitive PCR technique in 47 non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cases and the impact of TNF-alpha on their clinical behaviour. Using univariate analysis, our study demonstrated a positive correlation between high TNF-alpha expression and favourable prognosis in NSCLC in terms of overall survival and disease free interval (p=0.03 and 0.04, respectively) and TNF-alpha maintained its independent role in multivariate analysis. TNF-alpha can stimulate the expression of many molecules, including interleukin-8 (IL-8) and endothelin-1 (ET-1); in our study, the expression of TNF-alpha was significantly associated with high IL-8 mRNA levels (p=0.008) and ET-1 mRNA positivity (p=0.03). We suggested that TNF-alpha can induce ET-1 mRNA expression in NSCLC, similarly to IL-8 expression. Our study may also contribute to advancing the knowledge of the molecular relationship between cytokines and endothelial functions in NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Pisa, I-56126 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Boldrini
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gisfredi
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ursino
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lucchi
authors.forename: Franca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Melfi
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mussi
authors.forename: Fulvio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Basolo
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fontanini
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D019332:Endothelin-1 / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000235:genetics*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D019332:Endothelin-1; D016209:Interleukin-8; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha