Pre-treatment serum levels of interleukin-10, interleukin-12 and their ratio predict response to therapy and probability of event-free and overall survival in childhood soft tissue sarcomas, Hodgkin's lymphomas and acute lymphoblastic leukemias.
OBJECTIVE
Deregulated serum IL-10, IL-12 and their reciprocal balance have been stated in malignancies of adults. In children with cancer the issue has not been investigated so far.


METHODS
To determine the diagnostic and prognostic roles of pre-treatment serum levels of IL-10 (Th2 cytokine), IL-12 (Th1) and their ratios (measured by the IL-10 and IL-12p70 ELISA kits; Endogen) in 91 children with soft tissue sarcomas (STS), Hodgkin's lymphomas (HL) and acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL).


RESULTS
Median IL-10 and IL-12 levels were significantly higher in cancer patients than in healthy controls. Increased IL-10 indicated presence of general symptoms in HL and high risk group in ALL. Elevated IL-10 and IL-10/IL-12 ratios and decreased IL-12 correlated with poor-risk histology in STS, poor response to therapy, relapse and death from cancer. Multivariate analysis identified IL-10/IL-12 ratio>0.14 and IL-12<40 pg/mL as significant predictors for shorter EFS and OS, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Pre-treatment serum levels of IL-10, IL-12 and IL-10/IL-12 balance in children with STS, HL and ALL may be of value as additional prognostic tools to predict the response to therapy and probability of EFS and OS.
Department of Pediatrics, Hematology, Oncology and Endocrinology, Medical University of Gdansk, 7 Debinki Street, 80-211 Gdansk, Poland. ebien@amg.gda.pl
Ewa
E
Bien
Anna
A
Balcerska
Elzbieta
E
Adamkiewicz-Drozynska
Malgorzata
M
Rapala
Malgorzata
M
Krawczyk
Jan
J
Stepinski
D000293:Adolescent; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D016753:Interleukin-10 / Q000097:blood*; D018664:Interleukin-12 / Q000097:blood*; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D011379:Prognosis; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D016753:Interleukin-10; D018664:Interleukin-12; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase