title: Serum IL-33 as a diagnostic and prognostic marker in non- small cell lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Interleukin-33 (IL-33) has recently been implicated in tumor immunity. The aim of this study was to explore the clinical role of serum IL-33 in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Sera collected from 250 healthy volunteers (HV), 256 patients with benign lung diseases (BLD) and 262 NSCLC cases were subjected to IL-33 ELISA and relationships between serum IL-33 and clinical characteristics were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Circulating IL-33 levels were higher in the NSCLC group in comparison with the HV and BLD groups (p<0.001). Using a cut-off level 68 pg/ml (95% specificity in the HV group), IL-33 showed a good diagnostic performance for NSCLC. Multivariate survival analysis indicated that serum IL-33 was an independent prognostic factor in the entire NSCLC group [hazards ratio (HR) = 0.64 for low versus high IL-33 levels, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.50-0.82; p<0.001] and in 165 selected patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease receiving chemoradiotherapy or chemotherapy (HR 0.70, 95% CI 0.52-0.94; p=0.013).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IL-33 is a promising potential diagnostic and prognostic marker in NSCLC, independent of the therapeutic intervention.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China. cqhuliangan@163.com
authors.forename: Liang-An
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Dan-Ni
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D000067596:Interleukin-33; D007378:Interleukins / Q000097:blood*; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology*; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C506536:IL33 protein, human; D000067596:Interleukin-33; D007378:Interleukins