title: Serum levels of tumour necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 and their correlation with body mass index, weight loss, appetite and survival rate--preliminary data of Viennese outpatients with metastatic cancer during palliative chemotherapy.
abstract: The serum cytokine levels (in particular interleukine-6 (IL-6) and tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha)) of 61 advanced stage cancer patients receiving palliative chemotherapy as outpatients were determined with quantikine immunoassays. The values were correlated with body mass index (BMI), weight loss and appetite. Furthermore cytokine levels of patients who have died within one year were compared with those of patients who have survived more than a year. Serum levels of IL-6 (median: 1.93 pg/ml, range: 0.32-42.87) and of TNF-alpha (median: 2.55 pg/ml, range: 1.03-34.06) did not correlate with BMI, weight loss and appetite. Serum IL-6 levels of patients with survival time less than one year were significantly higher than the levels of patients who survived more than one year, no significant differences in TNF-alpha serum levels were evident. The data of this observation are consistent with current literature. Due to changes in serum levels of proinflammatory cytokines in response to chemotherapy and additional therapy, it is unlikely that IL-6 and TNF-alpha can be used as independent indicators for weight loss and appetite. Nevertheless, high serum levels of IL-6 correlate with short-time mortality.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grim-Stieger
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keilani
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Mader
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marosi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schmidinger
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Zielinski
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fialka-Moser
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crevenna
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000379:methods; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001066:Appetite; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D010166:Palliative Care; D015996:Survival Rate; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood*; D015431:Weight Loss
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; D015850:Interleukin-6; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha