Abstract
Characteristic cytokine patterns have been described in different cancer patients and they are related to their diagnosis, prognosis, prediction of treatment responses and survival. A panel of cytokines was evaluated in the plasma of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and healthy controls to investigate their profile and relationship with clinical characteristics and overall survival. The case-controlled cross-sectional study design recruited 77 patients with confirmed diagnosis of NSCLC (cases) and 91 healthy subjects (controls) aimed to examine peripheral pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, TNF and IFN-γ) by Cytometry Beads Arrays (CBA Flex) in. The cytokine IL-6 showed a statistically significant difference among groups with increased expression in the case group (p < 0.001). The correlation between the cytokines expression with patient’s clinical characteristics variables revealed the cytokine IL-6 was found to be associated with gender, showing higher levels in male (p = 0.036), whereas IL-17A levels were associated with TNM stage, being higher in III–IV stages (p = 0.044). We observed worse overall survival for individuals with high levels of IL-6 when compared to those with low levels of this cytokine in 6, 12 and 24 months. Further studies of IL-6 levels in independent cohort could clarify the real role of IL-6 as an independent marker of prognostic of NSCLC.
Highlights
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide [1]
80–85% of all cases are diagnosed as non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and about 70% of patients have locally advanced or metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis [3,4,5]
Intense inflammation is reported in NSCLC and it is significantly associated with disease progression and decreased survival of patients [8]
Summary
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide [1]. Histologically, lung cancer is divided into two main types: small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) [2]. 80–85% of all cases are diagnosed as NSCLC and about 70% of patients have locally advanced or metastatic disease at the time of diagnosis [3,4,5]. IL-6 in non-small cell lung cancer our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. Overall 5-year survival rate is only 14–17% [6], due mainly, to the poor detection of lung cancer in its early stages and the ineffective treatment for advanced stages [7]. Intense inflammation is reported in NSCLC and it is significantly associated with disease progression and decreased survival of patients [8]. The inflammation caused by immune system activation is likely linked to carcinogenesis by promoting angiogenesis and proliferation of tumour cells [9,10], according to the cytokine profile in the tumour microenvironment [11,12,13,14]
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