title: Serum IL-17F combined with VEGF as potential diagnostic biomarkers for oral squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: Although interleukin (IL) 17A can promote angiogenesis in several tumors, there are limited clinical evidences on cancer about the correlation between serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and IL-17F, which is the most homologous to IL-17A. In this study, serum concentration of IL-17F and VEGF from healthy (n = 28), leukoplakia (n = 15), and oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) groups (n = 85) were assessed and showed that IL-17F level was remarkably downregulated from healthy group (394.3 pg/ml) to OSCC group (82.96 pg/ml). Conversely, the OSCC group had a highest level of VEGF (P < 0.05) in whole groups, and there was a negative correlation between IL-17F and VEGF in serum or in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) at mRNA level. Moreover, the lowest ratio of IL-17F/VEGF was found in OSCC patients (P < 0.05) and lower ratio of IL-17F/VEGF correlated to higher tumor stage and lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, the serum level of IL-17F and the ratio of IL-17F/VEGF were positively associated with the numbers of CD3(+) CD4(+) T cells, which indicated that serum IL-17F could originate from PBMCs during the development of OSCC, and could be used for the diagnosis by effectively distinguishing OSCC patients from healthy individuals.
authors.affiliation: Central Laboratory of Stomatology, Hospital of Stomatology, and The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Division of Immunology, Medical School, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China, 210093.
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Er-Ling
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yu-Jun
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xiao-Feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Dong-Ya
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Qin-Gang
authors.initials: QG
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Yan-Hong
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.forename: Ya-Yi
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Hou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020381:Interleukin-17 / Q000097:blood*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C440021:IL17F protein, human; D020381:Interleukin-17; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A