Secretion of inflammatory and regulatory cytokines and the association with depth and type of tumour invasion in patients with cancer of the larynx

Background: Pro-inflammatory, immunoregulatory, pro-metastatic and pro-oncogenic cytokines, secreted by cells of the immune system and cancer cells, promote tumour progression. The aim of this study was to evaluate the release of pro-inflammatory and immunoregulatory cytokines, marked in the peripheral blood of patients with laryngeal carcinoma, in terms of their application as a biomarker of more aggressive tumour phenotype.
Material and methods: We analysed a group of 106 people, including 55 patients with verified squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx. In the pathomorphological assessment of tumour stage (depth and type of tumour invasion) we took into account the classification criteria for assessing changes in the most aggressive part of the neoplasm, tumour front grading (TFG). Concentrations of cytokines IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, TNF, IFN- in the peripheral blood of patients was assessed at two time points (21 h and 72 h) by ELISA. Immunological and clinico-morphological outcomes were correlated and summarized.
Results: Analysis of test results showed that in laryngeal carcinomas with the highest extent of local pT4 there was observed the lowest secretion of IL-6 and IFN- and the greatest secretion of TNF. Tumours with the greatest depth of invasion with infiltration of the lamina propria and the cartilage of the larynx had significantly lower levels of IL-6 and IFN-. Carcinomas of the larynx characterized by good margins of infiltration had the highest concentrations of IL-6 and IL-10.
Conclusions: The study indicates the importance of the activity of cytokines as biomarkers of phenotype severity and progression in patients with laryngeal carcinoma.