RESUMO
Uveal melanoma is a malignant neoplasm with high metastatic potential; its pathogenesis is currently being studied. Chemokines play a key role not only in the inflammatory response, but also in enhancing angiogenesis, tumor invasiveness, increasing proliferative potential and metastasis. PURPOSE: To study the role of chemokines of classes CXC and CC in blood serum and tear fluid of patients with uveal melanoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included 118 people aged 53.7±12.2 years, among them 80 patients with uveal melanoma and 38 healthy donors. Group 1 included 32 patients with small tumors, group 2 (medium-sized tumors) - 26 patients; group 3 (large tumors) was comprised of 22 patients. Chemokines of classes CC (CCL2/MCP-1, CCL3/MIP-1α, CCL4/MIP-1ß, CCL5/RANTES, CCL11/Eotaxin) and CXC (CXCL1/GRO-α, CXCL8/IL-8, CXCL10/IP-10, CXCL12/SDF-1α) were determined by multiplex analysis of the blood serum and tear fluid. Statistical processing: Student's t-test, Fisher criteria, and Pierson's chi-squared test (χ2), differences were considered significant at p<0.05. RESULTS: Significantly increased level of chemokines with pro-inflammatory (CCL5/RANTES), proliferative (CXCL10/IP-10) and pro-angiogenic (CXCL12/SDF-1α) effects was found in the blood serum of patients with small-sized uveal melanoma in comparison with healthy donors. Concentration of all studied pro-inflammatory, proliferative, and pro-angiogenic chemokines in the lacrimal fluid was found to be significantly elevated in both the affected and the paired "healthy" eyes in all 3 groups of patients, with the maximum content seen in the large tumor group. CONCLUSION: The obtained data indicates that early local and systemic immune imbalance can be observed in uveal melanoma, and detection of chemokines can serve as a good reason for developing targeted therapy for small uveal melanoma.
