Implication of immunokine profiling for cancer staging

Tumor may arise from the dysregulation of immune system, which plays pivotal roles in counteracting tumor colonization, late-stage tumors, and metastases. In the midst of the establishment of cancer in vivo, immune cells are activated to release a multitude of immunokines, such as cytokines, and chemokines. Thus, since cytokine levels in tumor bearing host would be differential among local (intratumoral lesion, peritumoral normal tissue), and systemic sample site (serum), these differences might be significantly correlated to prognosis and treatment outcome for cancer patients. Previously, despite small number of patients, we demonstrated the feasibility of this proposition via only cytokine profiling. Based on this, herein we propose that immunokine profiling would be used as a surrogate, predictive tool for cancer staging, and progression.