title: An unexpected inverse correlation between soluble epidermal growth factor receptor and interleukin-6 in metastatic malignant melanoma patients.
abstract: The exact role of the soluble form of epidermal growth factor receptor (sEGF-R) in melanoma disease remains to be determined. We focused this study on the detection of circulating levels of sEGF-R in metastatic malignant melanoma patients and on the possible relationship between sEGF-R and clinicobiological parameters including circulating interleukin-6 (IL-6) and survival. sEGF-R and IL-6 levels were determined using a highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in serum from 75 metastatic malignant melanoma patients and 30 healthy controls. In our patients, median sEGF-R level was significantly elevated (P < 0.0001) compared with that of healthy controls (173.4 vs. 91.9 fm/ml). Age or sex was not associated with sEGF-R levels. Regarding tumor burden, in contrary to the detected IL-6 levels, we found that median sEGF-R levels were significantly (P = 0.045) lower in patients with high tumor burden (163 fm/ml) than in those with low tumor burden (193.8 fm/ml). An inverse correlation between IL-6 levels and sEGF-R was observed (r =-0.33; P = 0.040). No relationship between sEGF-R and time to progression or overall survival was observed while circulating IL-6 was found as a predictive factor of survival. Our results showed that sEGF-R level was elevated in metastatic malignant melanoma patients but not related to time to progression or survival and demonstrated an inverse correlation between sEGF-R and IL-6 levels. These findings imply a better understanding of EGF-R and IL-6 cross-talk function in melanoma.
authors.affiliation: AP-HP, Medical Oncology Department, Salpetriere Hospital, Paris, France.
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mouawad
authors.forename: Claude
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Soubrane
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rixe
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Khayat
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Spano
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D018450:Disease Progression; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000556:secondary; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000556:secondary; D015996:Survival Rate; D047368:Tumor Burden
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015850:Interleukin-6; D066246:ErbB Receptors