Levels of some cytokines in tumors of ovarian cancer patients with different responses to platinum-containing chemotherapy.

Abstract

e17528 Background: Resistance to chemotherapy is a complex problem in the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer (OC). Various intercellular intermediates are involved in the phenomenon, and cytokines are the most important of them; however, the involvement of individual representatives in the processes is poorly understood. Our purpose was to analyze levels of some cytokines in tumors of OC patients with different responses to chemotherapy they receive. Methods: Samples of ovarian tumors were obtained from 100 patients (aged 29-79 years) with advanced ovarian cancer stage IIIC-IV with/without ascites. All patients recruited in 2016-2020 received standard combination treatment with surgery and platinum-containing polychemotherapy (Pt CT). Based on the results of neoadjuvant Pt CT, patients were divided into groups: patients with stabilization or progression–group 1 “without effect”; patients with complete/partial regression–group 2 with positive effect. All patients gave their informed consent for the study. Levels of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 were measured in cytosolic fractions of tissue samples using standard ELISA test systems (Vektor-Best, Russia). Results were presented as Me (LQ; UQ). The significance of differences between the samples was assessed using the Mann-Whitney test (the differences were considered significant at p<0.05). Results: Levels of the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in tumors of patients did not differ significantly between groups 1 and 2. The local levels of IL-6 in tumors of patients sensitive to Pt CT were 5.5 times higher than in resistant patients–2.41 (1.71;4.55) vs. 0.44 (0.26;1.04), p≤0.05, and IL-8 13 was 13 times higher–27.23 (4.01; 30) vs. 2.1 (1.72; 2.5), p≤0.05. Conclusions: Local levels of anti-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 were significantly higher in patients with sensitivity to platinum-containing chemotherapy, which may reflect characteristics of the microenvironment in OC tumor tissues, while IL-10 levels were similar in all patients. The revealed features of the cytokine profile may be one of the factors determining the treatment outcomes.