Comparison of serum cytokine levels in breast and prostate malignancies

Abstract

Introduction: We have previously demonstrated significant differences in serum cytokine levels between healthy individuals and node-positive (NP) and node-negative (NN) breast cancer (BCa) patients. Specifically, eotaxin, MCP-1, and IL-6 were shown to correlate with the presence and stage of BCa. We performed a similar study on serum samples of prostate cancer (PCa) patients to determine whether similar cytokine profiles are present compared to BCa. Methods: Serum from 40 prostate cancer patients (20 aggressive and 20 non-aggressive) and 20 healthy male controls were evaluated for levels of 21 different cytokines (IL-1α, 1β, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, IFN-γ, G-CSF, GM-CSF, TNF-α, IP-10, MIP-1α, MCP-1 and eotaxin) using LUMINEX® technology.