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Elevated pleural effusion IL-17 is a diagnostic marker and outcome predictor in lung cancer patients
ChunHua Xu, LiKe Yu1, Ping Zhan
1First Department of Respiratory Medicine, Nanjing Chest Hospital, 215 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing 210029, China. yulike_doctor@163.com.
Background:
Interleukin 17 (IL-17) is a proinflammatory cytokine produced mainly by CD4(+) T-lymphocytes and may be important in tumor cell growth and progression. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic value of pleural effusion levels of IL-17 in lung cancer patients with malignant pleural effusion (MPE).
Methods:
Pleural effusion samples were collected from 78 lung cancer patients with MPE and from 45 patients with nonmalignant pleural effusion. Pleural fluid concentrations of IL-17 were measured by using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays.
Results:
Malignant effusion exhibited higher IL-17 levels than nonmalignant effusion (20.49 ± 5.27 pg/ml vs. 13.16 ± 2.25 pg/ml; P < 0.01). Lung cancer patients with pleural fluid IL-17 levels below 15 pg/ml had longer overall survival than those patients with higher levels (10.8 months vs. 4.7 months; P < 0.05). On the basis of multivariate analysis, we found that pleural fluid IL-17 level was an independent prognostic factor in lung cancer patients with MPE.
Conclusions:
Measurement of IL-17 levels might be a useful diagnostic and prognostic test for lung cancer patients with MPE.
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