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Updated: Aug 9, 2026
An Orthotopic Model of Serous Ovarian Cancer in Immunocompetent Mice for in vivo Tumor Imaging and Monitoring of Tumor Immune Responses
Published on: November 29, 2010
Interleukin-7 and suppression of local peritoneal immunity in ovarian carcinoma
1Department of Gynecologic Oncology, Women's Hospital, Medical School of Zhejiang University, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, China. xiex@mail.hz.zj.cn
Objectives:
To investigate the epithelial ovarian carcinoma (EOC) secretion of interleukin-7 (IL-7).
Methods:
Levels of IL-7 were assayed by enzyme-linked immunoadsorbent assay and IL-7 mRNA, and protein expression in tissues and cell lines were detected by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.
Results:
The median serum IL-7 level in patients with EOC (32 cases; 32.49 pg/ml) was significantly higher than that of patients with benign tumors (16 cases; 7.59 pg/ml) and healthy women (16 cases; 10.64 pg/ml) (P<0.05). The median peritoneal fluid IL-7 level in patients with EOC (17.39 pg/ml) was slightly higher than that of patients with benign tumors (14.09 pg/ml), but not significantly so (P>0.05). There were positive correlations between the serum and peritoneal fluid IL-7 levels in both ovarian cancer and benign group (P<0.05, both). Only two EOC specimens expressed IL-7 mRNA, and no IL-7 protein positive was found in any specimens.
Conclusions:
Epithelial ovarian carcinoma cells rarely express IL-7, and IL-7 levels are decreased in the ascitic fluid of patients with EOC.
