IL36 indicating good prognosis in human Hepatocellular Carcinoma
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Updated: Dec 6, 2025
Author Spotlight: Investigating Immune Cell Dynamics in the Tumor Microenvironment — Challenges and Innovations in Cancer Prognosis
Published on: April 12, 2024
Miao Hu1, Ying Tong2, Haisheng Fang3
1Department of Gastroenterology, Shanghai East Hospital, Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China, No.150 Jimo Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai, China.
Insights
Higher Interleukin-36 (IL36) expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients correlates with better prognosis. This study found increased IL36 levels in HCC tumors and serum are linked to improved survival rates.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Oncology
- Hepatology
Background:
- Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a leading cause of cancer death in China.
- The role of Interleukin-36 (IL36) in antitumor immunity is established, but its specific involvement in HCC remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between IL36 expression and the prognosis of HCC patients.
- To determine if IL36 levels can serve as a predictive biomarker for HCC patient outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Immunohistochemistry (IHC) to assess IL36 expression in tumor and peri-tumor tissues.
- Serum Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) to quantify IL36 levels in patient blood.
- Flow cytometry (FCM) to identify immune cells expressing IL36.
- Statistical analyses including Chi-square, Kaplan-Meier, and Cox regression.
Main Results:
- IL36 expression was significantly lower in HCC tumor samples compared to adjacent peri-tumor tissues.
- IL36 expression showed correlations with liver cirrhosis and metastasis, but not age, gender, or tumor size.
- Higher IL36 expression was associated with improved patient survival rates.
- Serum IL36 levels were highest in HCC patients compared to chronic hepatitis patients and healthy individuals.
- IL36 was predominantly expressed in CD4+ T cells.
Conclusions:
- IL36 expression is closely linked to HCC prognosis.
- Elevated IL36 levels indicate a better prognosis and longer survival for HCC patients.
- IL36 may represent a potential therapeutic target or prognostic biomarker in HCC management.
Abstract:
Background and Aim: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the leading cause of cancer death in men before the age of 60 years in China. Interleukin (IL)36 played important roles in antitumor immune responses, but its role in HCC is still unknown. We aimed to explore the correlation between IL36 and prognosis of HCC patients. Methods: The expression of IL36 was measured by Immunohistochemistry (IHC), serum Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) and flow cytometry (FCM). Chi-square test was performed to analyze the relationship between IL36 expression and clinical parameters of HCC patients. The correlation between IL36 expression and prognosis of HCC patients was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression analysis. Results: The IL36 expression in HCC tumor samples was lower than that in paired peri-tumor samples; the analyses suggested that there was no correlation between IL36 expression and age, gender, and tumor size, but tight relationship between IL36 expression and liver cirrhosis, metastasis and some other clinical parameters. The results of Kaplan-Meier analysis indicated positive expression of IL36 could induce high survival rate of patients. The detection of IL36 with ELISA suggested that expression of IL36 in serum was the highest in patients of HCC, other than the chronic hepatitis patients and the healthy. The result of FCM suggested the expression of IL36 was higher in CD4+ T cells than other immune cells. Conclusions: There is a close relationship between the expression of IL36 and the prognosis of HCC, higher expression of IL36 suggested better prognosis and longer survival of HCC.
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