Research on the Relationship Between Serum Levels of Inflammatory Cytokines and Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Aims: This study was conducted to evaluate the levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8 and VEGF in serum of patientswith non- small cell lung cancer, for assessing their possible diagnostic and prognostic roles.
Methods: Weenrolled 48 patients newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer and 40 healthy controls. TNF- α, IL-6and IL-8 levels were measured in the serum of all the subjects with specific radioimmunoassay kits, while EGFwas analyzed by sandwich enzyme immunoassay techniques.
Results: A statistically significant difference wasobserved between lung cancer patients and the control group regarding the values of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8 andVEGF in serum. Moreover, TNF-α, IL-8 and VEGF levels were higher in patients with advanced stages comparedto early stages. In addition, higher serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8 and VEGF were found in smokers than innon-smokers, both in patients and controls.
Conclusion: Serum levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL-8 and VEGF were allelevated in lung cancer patients, suggesting that inflammatory cytokines could be jointly used as a screening tool.Though TNF-α, IL-8 and VEGF levels were related to advanced disease, long-term survival studies of NSCLCpatients should be performed to confirm whether they can act as biomarkers of advanced disease. In addition,smoking would be an important contributor to the processes of inflammation and lung cancer.