Inflammatory cytokine network from blood plasma differs between clinical-pathological aspects of colorectal cancer patients
Keywords:
Colorectal câncer, Inflammatory cytokines, Clinical-pathological featuresAbstract
Introduction: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common solid neoplasms in the world. Inflammatory cytokines including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) have been controversially associated with the progression of the disease, but their clinical and prognostic relevance remains poorly investigated. Objective: The aim of this work is to describe the blood plasma levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and TNFα, and their association with the clinical-pathological aspects of CRC patients at diagnosis. Methods: This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study, where peripheral blood samples were obtained from adult patients with CRC collected at diagnosis (T0). The blood plasma was processed for cytokine measurement using cytometric bead arrays (CBA) for flow cytometry. Sociodemographic and clinical-pathological characteristics were obtained from the medical records of patients. Results: There were significant differences in IL-1β levels in patients with well-differentiated and moderately differentiated tumors (p=0.0039). IL-6 levels differed when compared between patients with colon and rectal tumors (p=0.01) and between the 3 tumor locations: Colon, rectosigmoid junction, and rectum (p=0.03). There was a difference in IL-6 levels between groups in the initial (I/II) and more advanced (III/IV) stages of the disease (p=0.0005). IL-8 and TNFα levels were higher in patients with proximal tumors and moderately differentiated histology. IL-10, analyzed in parallel, showed higher levels in metastatic patients (p=0.0225). Conclusion: There are significant differences between the levels of inflammatory cytokines and the clinical-pathological characteristics of CRC at diagnosis, such as tumor location, histology, clinical stage, and metastasis. The antagonistic process of specific cytokines, such as TNFα and IL-10, may demonstrate relevant clinical value and longitudinal studies will be necessary to elucidate these events better.
