title: Evaluation of Serum Interleukin-17 (IL-17) Levels as a Diagnostic Marker in Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Inflammatory cytokines modulate immune responses in the tumor microenvironment during progression. The role of interleukin (IL-17) in cancer is currently under debate. This study was conducted to investigate the serum levels of IL-17 in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PA) and the relationship with tumor progression and known prognostic parameters.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-five patients with PA were investigated. Serum samples were obtained on first admission before treatment and follow-up. Both serum IL-17 levels were determined using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Age- and sex-matched 35 healthy controls were included in the analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median age at diagnosis was 61 years, range 38-84 years; 21 (60%) patients were men. The tumor was located in the head of pancreas in 24 (69%) patients. The most common metastatic site was liver in 20 patients with metastasis (n = 18, 90%). The median follow-up time was 24.0 weeks (range 1.0-191.0 weeks). At the end of the observation period, 12 (34%) patients experienced disease progression and 23 patients (66%) were dead. Forty-four percent of 18 metastatic patients who received palliative chemotherapy (CTx) were CTx-responsive. Median progression-free survival and overall survival of the whole group were 13.7 ± 2.3 weeks [95% confidence interval (CI) = 9-18 weeks] and 48.0 ± 12.8 weeks (95% CI = 23-73 weeks), respectively. The baseline serum IL-17 levels were significantly higher in patients with PA than in the control group (p = 0.001). Moreover, serum IL-17 levels were significantly higher in the patients with large pathologic tumor status and low albumin levels (p = 0.04 and p = 0.03, respectively). However, serum IL-17 assays had no prognostic roles on outcome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although serum levels of IL-17 assays were found to be diagnostic value, no predictive and prognostic value was determined in PA patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Institute of Oncology, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Senem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Karabulut
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Istanbul Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. cigdemusul@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Çiğdem Usul
authors.initials: ÇU
authors.lastname: Afsar
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Surgery, Istanbul Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karabulut
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Surgery, Istanbul Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Halil
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alış
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Institute of Oncology, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Leyla
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kılıc
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Surgery, Istanbul Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Çikot
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Oncology, Institute of Oncology, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ceren Tilgen
authors.initials: CT
authors.lastname: Yasasever
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Oncology, Institute of Oncology, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Nuri Faruk
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Aykan
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D020381:Interleukin-17 / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011379:Prognosis; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D020381:Interleukin-17
keywords: Diagnostic; IL-17; Pancreatic adenocancer; Serum