Clinical significance of serum IL-18 and IL-18BP in patients with benign or malignant primary liver tumors

Abstract

OBJECTIVE To study the relationship between the serum levels of IL-18 and IL-18BP in the development and growth of primary liver cancer, benign liver tumors and liver cirrhosis and to determine the value of serum IL-18 and IL-18BP in the diagnosis of primary liver cancer. METHODS The serum levels of IL-18 and IL-18BP in 36 patients with primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC) were detected. Eighteen patients were diagnosed with various benign liver tumors and 21 patients with cirrhosis of liver (LC), determined by using an ELISA assay. The serum levels of AFP in 36 patients with primary liver cancer were examined. The relationship among levels of serum IL-18, IL-18BP and AFP in the primary liver cancer was explored. RESULTS The sIL-18 levels in PHC were signi fi cantly lower than in control group, the benign liver tumor group and the LC group. The sIL-18BP in PHC was signi fi cantly higher than that in control group, benign liver tumor group and LC group ( P < 0.001). There was a close correlation between the levels of IL-18, IL-18BP and clinical stage in PHC: the later clinical stages had lower levels of IL-18 and higher levels of IL-18BP while the earlier clinical stages had higher levels of IL-18 and lower levels of IL-18BP. There was a negative correlation between serum levels of IL-18 and AFP in the PHC group ( r = -0.7152, n = 36, P < 0.01), and there was a positive correlation between serum levels of IL-18 BP and AFP in the patients with PHC (r = 0.6315, n = 36, P < 0.01). The IL-18and IL-18BP in the patients with various benign liver tumors or LC were significantly higher than those in control group. The differences were statistically signifi cant ( P < 0.01). CONCLUSION Serum levels of IL-18 and IL-18BP can reflect the immune function of patients with primary liver cancer, with various benign liver tumors or with LC and can also be indicative of the clinic stage of primary liver cancer. It can be used to assist in making a diagnosis and in determining the clinical stage of PHC. Detecting AFP concurrently can help make the diagnosis of primary liver cancer more precise.