title: Prognostic role of serum cytokines in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Th1/Th2 cytokine network imbalance plays a major role in cancer development and progression. In this study, we aim to evaluate the relationship between those cytokines and clinical outcome in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).
  
  
  METHODS
  The concentrations of Th1 cytokines (IL-2, TNF-α, IFN-γ) and Th2 cytokines (IL-4, IL-5, IL-10) in the serum were examined by Cytometric Bead Array in a total of 80 nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients pre and post treatment. Associations of those cytokines with clinical pathological factors, treatment response, and overall survival were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pretreatment serum levels of IL-2 and TNF-α were closely associated with overall survival. Compared to patients with low IL-2 expression, those with high expression had less risk of death (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.31, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.13-0.75, p = 0.009). In contrast, TNF-α showed opposite effects on overall survival in patients with NPC. Patients with high TNF-α expression had a more than 2-fold increase in risk of death than those with low TNF-α (HR = 2.66, 95% CI 1.04-6.78, p = 0.041). All HRs were adjusted for age, sex, stage, histology, and treatment. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed similar survival differences between the 2 groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Lower serum IL-2 or elevated serum TNF-α concentrations predict an unfavorable prognosis for patients with NPC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Therapy, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
authors.forename: Ke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Xinglai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.forename: Qinghua
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sheng
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shenhua
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Su
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002277:Carcinoma; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy; D015995:Prevalence; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015996:Survival Rate; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D007376:Interleukin-2; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha