Abstract
Interleukin-6 acts as both a pro-inflammatory cytokine and an anti-inflammatory myokine. IL-6/IL-6R signaling pathway, in particular, has been proposed to be a pivotal cytokine promoting ovarian cancer progression. This study aimed to elucidate potential clinical and biological function of IL-6R mRNA expression in ovarian cancer. We used the keywords “ovarian cancer” and searched through GEO database and finally a total of 7 studies together with TCGA database were incorporated in this analysis. We used Cutoff Finder to determine a cutoff point and stratified patients into two groups and found that high-expression of IL-6R mRNA in tumor tissues was a positive prognostic factor for overall survival. Simultaneously, high expression level of IL-6R mRNA correlates with better survival of patients who had additional chemotherapy treatment. These analyses suggested a possible role of tumoral expression of IL-6R in ovarian cancer. In conclusion, our results showed that mRNA levels of IL-6R in ovarian cancer was positively associated with better prognosis and sensitivity to chemotherapy and can potentially be used as a prognostic marker for this cancer.
Highlights
Ovarian cancer is the leading lethal gynecological cancer worldwide
To study the Tumor microenvironment (TME) of ovarian cancer and to explore the meaning on the biological behavior of ovarian cancer are of great importance for the clinical treatment of ovarian cancer
IL-6/IL-6R signaling was proved to play a significant role in the progression of ovarian cancer
Summary
Ovarian cancer is the leading lethal gynecological cancer worldwide. It accounts for approximately 200,000 new cases per year globally[1]. Understanding cytokines, immune and inflammatory responses in the TME may be the key to understand the progression of ovarian cancer. Interleukin-6(IL-6), in particular, has been proposed to be a pivotal cytokine promoting ovarian cancer progression. Antagonizing IL-6/IL-6R signaling was accepted to have therapeutic activity through inhibition of cytokine network in ovarian cancer cell[9]. Increased expression of IL-6R protein has been observed in ovarian cancer cell lines, cancer tissue, malignant ascites and serum[10,11,12,13]. Blockade of anti- IL-6/IL-6R signaling has been proposed as a therapeutic approach for ovarian cancer[15, 16]. Coward et al.[18] have found no association between IL-6R protein expression and survival of patients with ovarian cancer. The exact role of IL-6R during ovarian development has not been resolved
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