Clinical significance of interleukin-6 in diagnosis of lung, oral, esophageal, and gall bladder carcinomas.

Introduction: Chronic inflammation predisposes to cancer. Cytokines play an essential role in cancer pathogenesis. Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a pleiotropic cytokine that enables growth and differentiation of tumors. The effects of IL-6 are mediated by signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3). STAT3 deficiency reduced tumor incidence and growth while STAT3 hyperactivation has an opposite effect; also it negatively regulates p53 gene. IL-6/STAT3 signaling is crucial in carcinogenesis linked to inflammation. Increased IL-6 levels are observed in cancer. Studies investigating the role of IL-6 is limited.

Aim: This study aims at determining IL-6 levels in lung, oral, esophageal, and gallbladder cancer patients.

Materials and Methods: Subjects consisted of 175 patients with lung, oral, gall bladder, and esophageal cancers. The patients included 68 females and 107 males with an average age of 52 years. Fifty healthy individuals served as controls. IL-6 was detected by electrochemiluminescent immunoassay principle.

Results: IL-6 values were determined in 175 (21 lung, 55 oral, 17 esophageal and 82 gallbladder) cancer patients. Of these, 147/175 (18 lung, 43 oral, 13 esophageal and 73 gallbladder) cancer patients (84%) showed higher IL-6 levels as compared to control group (normal range: <7 pg/ml).

Conclusion: This indicates a significant correlation between IL-6 overexpression and cancer development, highlighting the significance of IL-6 in oral, lung, esophageal, and gallbladder carcinomas. IL-6 may be used as a tumor marker for cancer diagnosis. It may be a clinically significant predictor and may represent a target for cancer treatment. However, to definitely conclude this, further extensive studies would be required.