title: Serum hepatocyte growth factor and interleukin-6 are effective prognostic markers for non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We surveyed prognostic biomarkers for resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
  
  
  METHODS
  We obtained preoperative serum from 109 patients, and measured the levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and nicotinamide N-methytransferase (NNMT) in the sera.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median HGF and IL-6 contents were 860 pg/ml and 2.7 pg/ml, respectively. Analysis of survival curves indicated that an HGF or IL-6 level higher than the median was associated with poor overall survival (HGF, p=0.019; IL-6, p=0.002). In addition, we analyzed stage III lung cancer alone. Higher HGF and IL-6 levels were associated with poor overall survival (HGF, p=0.016; IL-6, p=0.013). Disease-free survival was not statistically significantly affected by these cytokine contents. The tumor status (pT factor) and nodal status (pN factor) were not associated with the survival of stage III patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The levels of HGF and IL-6 in serum could be useful prognostic indicators of the survival of patients with stage III NSCLC undergoing surgery and chemotherapy.
authors: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Saitama Cancer Center, 818 Komuro, Ina, Saitama 362-0806, Japan. hideki_ujiie@hotmail.com
authors: Hideki
authors: H
authors: Ujiie
authors: Mikio
authors: M
authors: Tomida
authors: Hirohiko
authors: H
authors: Akiyama
authors: Yuki
authors: Y
authors: Nakajima
authors: Daisuke
authors: D
authors: Okada
authors: Naoyuki
authors: N
authors: Yoshino
authors: Yuichi
authors: Y
authors: Takiguchi
authors: Hideki
authors: H
authors: Tanzawa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000097:blood*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015850:Interleukin-6; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor