The clinical significance of detection of Th1/Th2 cell cytokines in lung cancer / 中国肺癌杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>To explore the clinical significance of detection of T helper cell (Th1 and Th2) in patients with lung cancer and to provide a foundation for immunological treatment.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>RIA and ELISA were used to detect the level of serum IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8 and TNF-a in 86 patients with lung cancer, 59 patients with benign pulmonary diseases and 45 healthy people. IL-2 and TNF-a were used to represent cytokines of Th1 type, and IL-4, IL-6 and IL-8 to represent cytokines of Th2 type.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The level of IL-2 [(24.6±12.0) μg/L]in cancer group was significantly lower than that in benign group [(71.1±25.4) μg/L] ( t =3.82, P < 0.01) and normal group [(69.3±19.5) μg/L]( t=2.76, P < 0.01), the level of IL-6 in cancer group [(0.13±0.04) μg/L] was significantly lower than that in normal group [(0.23±0.05) μg/L]( t= 3.39 , P < 0.01), but the levels of IL-4 [(254.2±78.0) μg/L], IL-8 [(0.49±0.16) μg/L], and TNF-a [( 2.76 ±1.12) μg/L] in cancer group were significantly higher than those in benign group [(63.6±18.6) μg/L, ( 0.36 ±0.18) μg/L, (0.96±0.20) μg/L respectively] and those in normal group [(60.9±19.6) μg/L, ( 0.35 ±0.07) μg/L, (0.93±0.19) μg/L respectively] ( t =4.10, 4.89, 3.76 respectively, all P < 0.01). No significant difference of IL-2, IL-4, IL-8 and TNF-a level was observed between benign group and normal group (all P > 0.05). The level of IL-6 in cancer group was similar to that in benign group [(0.15±0.04) μg/L] ( P > 0.05 ). The level of IL-6 in benign group was significantly lower than that in normal group [(0.23±0.05) μg/L] ( P > 0.05 ). There was no significant difference in these cytokines among lung cancer patients with different histological types and in different TNM stages.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>T helper cell cytokines are out of balance in patients with lung cancer, and this may play a certain role in the pathogenesis of lung cancer. Correcting this immune malfunction may become an important method in lung cancer therapy.</p>