Interleukin-6 as a Predictive Marker for Lymph Node and Distant Metastasis in Colorectal Cancer: A Retrospective...

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Immunology
• Biochemistry

Background:

• Metastasis is the primary cause of death in colorectal cancer (CRC).
• Interleukin-6 (IL-6), an inflammatory cytokine, is linked to tumor metastasis, but its role in CRC lymph node metastasis (LNM) and distant metastasis (DM) requires clarification.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between serum IL-6 levels and the presence of LNM and DM in CRC patients.
• To evaluate the predictive value of IL-6 for CRC metastasis compared to carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of clinical data from 427 CRC patients.
• Measurement of serum IL-6 and CEA levels.
• Statistical analysis to assess the predictive performance of IL-6 for LNM and DM.

Main Results:

• Elevated serum IL-6 levels significantly correlated with both LNM and DM (P<0.05).
• IL-6 demonstrated superior predictive power for LNM (AUC=0.555) and DM compared to CEA.
• Combining IL-6 and CEA improved diagnostic accuracy for LNM (AUC=0.583).

Conclusions:

• Serum IL-6 is a significant predictor of metastasis in colorectal cancer.
• IL-6 offers a valuable complementary biomarker for assessing CRC metastasis risk, particularly for LNM.