title: Clinical significance of serum interleukin-18 (IL-18) levels in patients with gastric cancer.
abstract: An inappropriate production of interleukin-18 (IL-18) contributes to the pathogenesis of malignancies and may influence the clinical outcome of patients. The objective of this study was to determine the clinical significance of the serum levels of IL-18 in patients with gastric cancer. A total of 63 patients with a pathologically confirmed diagnosis of gastric cancer were enrolled into this study. Serum IL-18 concentrations were determined by the solid-phase sandwich Elisa method. Age- and sex-matched 30 healthy controls were included in the analysis. The median age at diagnosis was 62 years, range 28 to 82 years. The baseline serum IL-18 levels of the gastric cancer patients were a significantly higher than those in the control group (median values 1436.4 vs. 638.4 pg/mL, respectively, P<0.001). The known clinical variables including age of patient, gender, site of lesion, histology, histological grade, stage of disease, and serum tumor markers such as LDH, CEA, and CA 19.9 were not found to be correlated with serum IL-18 concentrations (P>0.05). Moreover, no correlation was found between serum IL-18 level and response to chemotherapy (P=0.34). Serum IL-18 concentration was also found no prognostic role on survival (P=0.21). In conclusion, serum levels of IL-18 may have a good diagnostic marker in patients with gastric cancer. However, its predictive and prognostic values were not determined.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncology, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey. Electronic address: faruktas2002@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Faruk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Tas
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncology, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ceren
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tilgen Yasasever
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncology, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Senem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karabulut
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncology, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Didem
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tastekin
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oncology, University of Istanbul, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Derya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Duranyildiz
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D018279:Carcinoma, Signet Ring Cell / Q000378:metabolism; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D020382:Interleukin-18 / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents; C000589760:IL18 protein, human; D020382:Interleukin-18
keywords: Diagnostic; Gastric cancer; IL-18; Predictive; Serum