Abstract
We read with interest the article by Hu et al., published in Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, showing that circulating IL-33 levels were higher in a non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) group compared with the healthy volunteers and benign lung diseases groups, correlatingwith tumor stage (Hu et al., 2013). Using a cut-off level 68 pg/ml, IL-33 showed a good diagnostic performance for NSCLC. In addition, multivariate survival analysis showed that serum IL-33 was an independent prognostic factor in the entire NSCLC group. These findings suggest that IL-33 is a promising potential diagnostic and prognostic marker in NSCLC, and IL-33 may play an important role in NSCLS. However, Naumnik et al. (2012) showed that levels of IL-33 in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) did not differ markedly between NSCLC and the control group. No correlation was found between the serum level of IL-33 before therapy and the effect of chemotherapy. No correlation was found between the BALF concentration of IL-33 and the effect of chemotherapy as well (Naumnik et al., 2012). IL-33 is the latest member of the IL-1 family, which includes IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-1 receptor antagonist, and IL-18. BALF level of IL-18 was lower in the NSCLC than that in the hypersensivity pneumonitis (HP) group, but higher than that in the sarcoidosis patients. Serum level of IL-18 was higher in the NSCLC than in the healthy subjects (Rovina et al., 2011; Naumnik et al., 2013). In addition, Fariadfar et al. showed that IL-18 gene polymorphism contributes to the lung cancer risk, particularly among squamous carcinoma patients (Farjadfar et al., 2009). Interestingly, IL-33 levels in the serum of gastric cancer patients were significantly elevated in comparison with that of healthy volunteers, and higher serum levels of IL-33 in gastric cancer patients were found to correlate with several poor prognostic factors like depth of invasion, distant metastasis and advanced stage (stage III/IV) (Sun et al., 2011). On the contrary, no significant difference in IL-33 serum levels was found in hepatocellular carcinoma patients compared to liver cirrhosis patients and healthy controls (Bergis et al., 2013). IL-33 levels did not correlate with overall survival, liver function parameters, the Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score (Bergis et al., 2013). Recently, Gao, et al showed that transgenic expression of IL-33 attenuated tumor metastasis in the Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) metastatic models, where the percentages and cytotoxicity of CD8+ T cells and NK cells and their infiltration into the tumor tissues were markedly increased by the transgenic expression of IL-33 in tumor-
Highlights
We read with interest the article by Hu et al, published in Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, showing that circulating IL-33 levels were higher in a non-smallcell lung cancer (NSCLC) group compared with the healthy volunteers and benign lung diseases groups, correlatingwith tumor stage (Hu et al, 2013)
These findings suggest that IL-33 is a promising potential diagnostic and prognostic marker in NSCLC, and IL33 may play an important role in NSCLS
IL-33 levels in the serum of gastric cancer patients were significantly elevated in comparison with that of healthy volunteers, and higher serum levels of IL33 in gastric cancer patients were found to correlate with several poor prognostic factors like depth of invasion, distant metastasis and advanced stage (Sun et al, 2011)
Summary
We read with interest the article by Hu et al, published in Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention, showing that circulating IL-33 levels were higher in a non-smallcell lung cancer (NSCLC) group compared with the healthy volunteers and benign lung diseases groups, correlatingwith tumor stage (Hu et al, 2013). Multivariate survival analysis showed that serum IL-33 was an independent prognostic factor in the entire NSCLC group. These findings suggest that IL-33 is a promising potential diagnostic and prognostic marker in NSCLC, and IL33 may play an important role in NSCLS.
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