Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2011 May 30:11:210.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-11-210.

Prognostic significance of IL-6 and IL-8 ascites levels in ovarian cancer patients

Denis Lane  1 , Isabelle Matte, Claudine Rancourt, Alain Piché
Affiliations

Prognostic significance of IL-6 and IL-8 ascites levels in ovarian cancer patients

Denis Lane et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: The acellular fraction of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) ascites promotes de novo resistance of tumor cells and thus supports the idea that tumor cells may survive in the surrounding protective microenvironment contributing to disease recurrence. Levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 are elevated in EOC ascites suggesting that they could play a role in tumor progression.

Methods: We measured IL-6 and IL-8 levels in the ascites of 39 patients with newly diagnosed EOC. Commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to determine IL-6 and IL-8 ascites levels. Ascites cytokine levels were correlated with clinicopathological parameters and progression-free survival.

Results: Mean ascites levels for IL-6 and IL-8 were 6419 pg/ml (SEM: 1409 pg/ml) and 1408 pg/ml (SEM: 437 pg/ml) respectively. The levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in ascites were significantly lower in patients that have received prior chemotherapy before the surgery (Mann-Whitney U test, P = 0.037 for IL-6 and P = 0.008 for IL-8). Univariate analysis revealed that high IL-6 ascites levels (P = 0.021), serum CA125 levels (P = 0.04) and stage IV (P = 0.009) were significantly correlated with shorter progression-free survival. Including these variables in a multivariate analysis revealed that elevated IL-6 levels (P = 0.033) was an independent predictor of shorter progression-free survival.

Conclusion: Elevated IL-6, but not IL-8, ascites level is an independent predictor of shorter progression-free survival.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan-Meier analysis of progression-free survival in patients with or without elevated levels of IL-6 and IL-8 in ascites.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Partridge EE, Barnes MN. Epithelial ovarian cancer: prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. CA Cancer J Clin. 1999;49:297–320. doi: 10.3322/canjclin.49.5.297. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Shen-Gunther J, Mannel RS. Ascites as a predictor of ovarian malignancy. Gynecol Oncol. 2002;87:77–83. doi: 10.1006/gyno.2002.6800. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lane D, Robert V, Grondin R, Rancourt C, Piché A. Malignant ascites protect against TRAIL-induced apoptosis by activating the PI3K/Akt in human ovarian carcinoma cells. Int J Cancer. 2007;121:1227–1237. doi: 10.1002/ijc.22840. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lane D, Goncharenko-Khaider N, Rancourt C, Piché A. Ovarian cancer ascites protects from TRAIL-induced cell death through αvβ5 integrin-mediated focal adhesion kinase and Akt activation. Oncogene. 2010;29:3519–3531. doi: 10.1038/onc.2010.107. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Puiffe ML, Le Page C, Filali-Mouhim A, Zietarska M, Ouellet V, Tonin PN, Chevrette M, Provencher DM, Mes-Masson AM. Characterization of ovarian cancer ascites on cell invasion, proliferation, spheroid formation, and gene expression in an in vitro model of epithelial ovarian cancer. Neoplasia. 2007;9:820–829. doi: 10.1593/neo.07472. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms