title: Clinicopathological significance of overexpression of interleukin-6 in colorectal cancer.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the expression levels of interleukin (IL)-6 in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues, and analyse the correlation of IL-6 expression with the clinicopathological parameters of CRC.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty CRC tissue specimens and 50 matched adjacent mucosa specimens were collected. The expression of IL-6 in these clinical samples was examined by immunohistochemical staining. The correlation between IL-6 expression and clinicopathological parameters was assessed by statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  IL-6 expression was significantly elevated in CRC tissues compared with noncancerous tissues (P< 0.001). IL-6 expression was positively correlated with tumour TNM stage (P< 0.001), but a negative correlation was detected between IL-6 expression and tumor histological differentiation in CRC (P< 0.05). Furthermore, IL-6 expression was associated with invasion depth and lymph node metastasis in CRC.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  IL-6 might be a useful marker for predicting a poor prognosis in patients with CRC and might be used as a potential therapeutic target in CRC.
authors.affiliation: Jun Zeng, Zhong-Hua Tang, Shuang Liu, Shan-Shan Guo, College of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.affiliation: Jun Zeng, Zhong-Hua Tang, Shuang Liu, Shan-Shan Guo, College of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China.
authors.forename: Zhong-Hua
authors.initials: ZH
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.affiliation: Jun Zeng, Zhong-Hua Tang, Shuang Liu, Shan-Shan Guo, College of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China.
authors.forename: Shuang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Jun Zeng, Zhong-Hua Tang, Shuang Liu, Shan-Shan Guo, College of Life Sciences, Chongqing Normal University, Chongqing 401331, China.
authors.forename: Shan-Shan
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Guo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism*; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy / Q000379:methods; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C508600:IL6 protein, human; D015850:Interleukin-6
keywords: Colorectal cancer; Interleukin-6; Invasion depth; Lymph node metastases