ABSTRACT
Background: Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is a cytokine with multifaceted effects playing a remarkable role in the initiation of the immune response. IL-6 also represents one of the main signals in communication between cancer cells and their non-malignant neighbors within the tumor niche. IL-6 also participates in the development of a premetastatic niche and in the adjustment of the metabolism in terminal-stage patients suffering from a malignant disease. IL-6 is a fundamental factor of the cytokine storm in patients with severe COVID-19, where it is responsible for the fatal outcome of the disease. This study aims to determine the effect of IL-6 in patients associated with cancer and COVID-19 infection. Method(s): Case control studies were conducted in Moewardi hospital, Surakarta, Central Java, from February to June 2022. Samples were taken from medical records. All patients with cancer and COVID-19 infection were included. Incomplete data is excluded. Therapy was categorized as hormonal therapy, chemotherapy, and evaluation. Mann Whitney was performed to investigate the average difference. The P-value of <0.05 is significant. Result(s): We included 130 patients with cancer and SARS-CoV-2 infection, and 23 patients for the control. We included the total sample of 153. The median age was 50 +/- 13 years. The most frequent kind of cancer was breast cancer (n=59, 38.6%) followed by gastrointestinal cancer (n=25, 16.3%), non hodgkin lymphoma (n=21, 13.7%) and other cancers such as hematological malignancy, thyroid cancer, squamous cell carcinoma, and parotid cancer (n=23,15%). A total of 95 patients received active treatment, with hormonal therapy (n = 8, 0.08%) and chemotherapy (n = 87, 91.57%) of them. The median of IL-6 was 6.80 +/- 23.66. There are significant differences of the IL-6 between COVID-19 patients with cancer compared with the control (p=0.001). Conclusion(s): The high level of IL-6 in a patient's body are influenced by cancer progression and serious viral infections such as COVID-19. Interleukin-6 may be responsible for the failure of therapy and, eventually, fatal complications in patients with cancer and COVID-19. Legal entity responsible for the study: The author. Funding(s): Has not received any funding. Disclosure: The author has declared no conflicts of interest. Copyright © 2022