Cytokine Plasma Levels in Breast Cancer Patients, Before and After Surgery.
Emmanuel KontomanolisChristina TsigalouAchilleas MitrakasAnastasia G GkegkaEleni EfraimidouDimitrios KaramanidisKonstantinos NikoletosTsikouras PanagiotisNikolaos NikoletosAlexandra GiatromanolakiMichael I KoukourakisPublished in: Journal of interferon & cytokine research : the official journal of the International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research (2024)
Studying the levels of cytokines in the plasma of patients could be valuable in guiding immunotherapy policies. We assessed the plasma levels of 4 major cytokines [interferon (IFN)-β, interleukin-2 (IL-2), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β)] collected from 19 patients with ductal breast cancer (BCa), before surgery (BS) and 5 days after surgery (AS). The ratio AS/BS was also calculated and correlated with histopathological variables and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) density. The IFN-β and TNF-α levels were significantly higher in BCa patients, BS and AS, than healthy controls ( P < 0.02). High IL-2 levels BS were linked with node involvement ( P = 0.02), and marginally with HER2 expression ( P = 0.08), while high TNF-α levels were linked with high PgR expression ( P = 0.02). Increasing IFN-β, IL-2, and TNF-α levels were noted AS, which was more evident in patients with larger tumors. The TGF-β levels were significantly lower in BCa patients ( P < 0.007). Linear regression analysis showed a direct association of IFN-β levels AS ( P = 0.02, r = 0.52) and of TNF-α AS/BS-ratio ( P = 0.001, r = 0.72) with TIL-density. It is suggested that although effector immune response is evident in the majority of early stage BCa patients, removal of the primary tumor further unblocks such responses.
Keyphrases
- immune response
- end stage renal disease
- rheumatoid arthritis
- transforming growth factor
- ejection fraction
- early stage
- newly diagnosed
- dendritic cells
- peritoneal dialysis
- prognostic factors
- minimally invasive
- public health
- radiation therapy
- patient reported outcomes
- coronary artery disease
- patient reported
- regulatory t cells
- inflammatory response
- rectal cancer