Significance of interleukin-33 and its related cytokines in patients with breast cancers.
Interleukin-33 (IL-33) is a recently identified cytokine, an important member of the interleukin-1 family. IL-33 binds to its receptor ST2 to induce type 2 cytokines and exert both pro-inflammatory and protective functions in host defense and disease. Murine breast carcinoma models suggest disruption of ST2 signaling may enhance the anti-tumor immune response, suggesting IL-33 impedes anti-tumor immunity. However, the role of IL-33 in patients with breast cancers (BC) is not elucidated. We detected the expression of IL-33 in tumor tissue, and IL-33 and its related cytokines in serum from BC patients. Using Luminex and immunohistochemistry methods, we found that serum levels of IL-33 were nearly twofold higher in patients with BC, compared to patients with benign breast diseases. In cancer tissues, expression of IL-33 was higher than matched normal breast tissues from the same patients, and was also associated with a well-differentiated phenotype, HER2 overexpression, more lymph nodes involvement, and a family history of malignant carcinoma. These results suggest that IL-33 may play an important role in the progress of BC and may be a useful biomarker for predicting the progress and metastasis of BC.
Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College , Shantou , China.
Jing
J
Liu
Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College , Shantou , China ; Breast Center, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College , Shantou , China.
Jia-Xin
JX
Shen
Cancer Research Center, Shantou University Medical College , Shantou , China ; Breast Center, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College , Shantou , China.
Jia-Lin
JL
Hu
Breast Center, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College , Shantou , China.
Wen-He
WH
Huang
Breast Center, Cancer Hospital of Shantou University Medical College , Shantou , China.
Guo-Jun
GJ
Zhang
ST2/ST2L; breast cancer; cytokines; immunosuppression; interleukin-33