Abstract
Objectives:
Determine the role of serum interleukin-6 concentration for oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas.
Methods:
Cohort study in a tertiary referral center. Two hundred thirty-seven untreated patients, 125 healthy individuals, and 104 individuals with oral premalignant lesions were enrolled. Interleukin-6 serum concentrations were measured by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
Results:
Serum concentrations of interleukin-6 were significantly higher in patients compared to the levels in healthy individuals and the subjects with oral premalignant lesions. Serum interleukin-6 levels were significantly higher in patients with higher pT status (from pT1 to pT4, median values in pg/ml = 0, 0, 1.3, 5.0 respectively, with P < 0.001), higher pathological stages (from stage I to IV, median values = 0, 0, 1.3, 3.6 respectively, with P < 0.001), positive bone invasion (5.0 vs. 0, 1.4 vs. 0; P <0.001), and higher tumor depths (1.4 vs. 0; P 0.005). Patients with higher pre-treatment levels of interleukin-6 (>1.35 pg/mL, median level) had worse prognoses for 5-year overall survival and disease-specific survival despite treatment (75.7% vs. 54.9% and 79.1% vs. 59.8%; P = 0.001 and 0.003, respectively). Multivariate logistic regression analyses also indicated that higher interleukin-6 serum levels were an independent prognostic factor for overall survival and disease-free survival (adjusted hazard ratio = 2.417 and 2.364; P = 0.009 and 0.017, respectively).
Conclusions:
Our study revealed that serum interleukin-6 levels were associated with increased tumor burden and aggressiveness of oral cavity squamous cell carcinomas and may be useful as a prognostic indicator after treatment.
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