Elevated pleural effusion IL-17 is a diagnostic marker and outcome predictor in lung cancer patients

Abstract

BackgroundInterleukin 17 (IL-17) is a proinflammatory cytokine produced mainly by CD4+ T-lymphocytes and may be important in tumor cell growth and progression. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of pleural effusion levels of IL-17 in lung cancer patients with malignant pleural effusion (MPE).MethodsPleural effusion samples were collected from 78 lung cancer patients with MPE and from 45 patients with nonmalignant pleural effusion. Pleural fluid concentrations of IL-17 were measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.ResultsMalignant effusion exhibited higher IL-17 levels than nonmalignant effusion (20.49 ± 5.27 pg/ml vs. 13.16 ± 2.25 pg/ml; P < 0.01). Lung cancer patients with pleural fluid IL-17 levels below 15 pg/ml had longer overall survival than those patients with higher levels (10.8 months vs. 4.7 months; P < 0.05). On the basis of multivariate analysis, we found that pleural fluid IL-17 level was an independent prognostic factor in lung cancer patients with MPE.ConclusionsMeasurement of IL-17 levels might be a useful diagnostic and prognostic test for lung cancer patients with MPE.

The correlations between IL-17 vs. Th17 cells and cancer patient survival: a systematic review

“…27 Another study found a correlation between high IL-17 protein levels in ovarian carcinoma ascites and improved survival. 69 Finally, a study in gastric cancer patients showed a significant correlation between high IL-17 RNA expression measured by qRT-PCR and improved survival in patients treated with curative resection.…”

“…Potential risks of bias identified in categorizing IL-17 or Th17 expression were optimal cut-off values chosen arbitrarily 15,16 or using a minimum p value, 17-23 receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve [24][25][26][27] or regression tree analysis. 28 Furthermore, one study compared the six long (>3 y) vs. short (<1.5 y) surviving patients.…”

MicroRNA-135a Inhibits Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Cell Proliferation Through Targeting Interleukin-17

“…In this regard, IL-17, secreted by CD4+ T cells, has been reported to promote tumor progression by anti-apoptotic and pro-angiogenic mechanisms [5, 6]. IL-17 expression is elevated in various kinds of human tumors such as cervical cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, ovarian cancer, esophageal cancer, breast cancer, gastric cancer, and NPC [7-10]. IL-17 was proposed to exert significant effects on tumor initiation and progression by affecting the antitumor immune response, [11, 12] and thus a novel immune-evasion mechanism utilized by the tumors through the inhibition of T-helper 17 (Th17) cell development was proposed [13].…”

Evaluation of serum and pleural levels of soluble B7-H4 in lung cancer patients with pleural effusion

“…Differentiating malignant from benign pleural effusions is a critical clinical problem, and conventional methods have proven inadequate (Xu et al, 2014c). Pleural fluid cytology has traditionally been the analytical method of choice for the detection of tumor cells in pleural fluid.…”