Serum hepatocyte growth factor and interleukin-6 are effective prognostic markers for non-small cell lung cancer

We surveyed prognostic biomarkers for resectable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

We obtained preoperative serum from 109 patients, and measured the levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and nicotinamide N-methytransferase (NNMT) in the sera.

The median HGF and IL-6 contents were 860 pg/ml and 2.7 pg/ml, respectively. Analysis of survival curves indicated that an HGF or IL-6 level higher than the median was associated with poor overall survival (HGF, p=0.019; IL-6, p=0.002). In addition, we analyzed stage III lung cancer alone. Higher HGF and IL-6 levels were associated with poor overall survival (HGF, p=0.016; IL-6, p=0.013). Disease-free survival was not statistically significantly affected by these cytokine contents. The tumor status (pT factor) and nodal status (pN factor) were not associated with the survival of stage III patients.

The levels of HGF and IL-6 in serum could be useful prognostic indicators of the survival of patients with stage III NSCLC undergoing surgery and chemotherapy.