TURKISH JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 2004 , Vol 19 , Num 3
THE ROLE OF IL-6 in METASTATIC MALIGNANT MELANOMA
Tıbbi Biyolog Hilal OĞUZ1, Dr. Derya DURANYILDIZ2, Dr. Hakan ÇAMLICA3, Dr. Faruk TAŞ4, Dr. Vildan YASASEVER5, Dr. Erkan TOPUZ6
1İ.Ü. Onkoloji Enstitüsü, Temel Onkoloji ABD, Kanser Biyokimyası Bilim Dalı, İstanbul
2İ.Ü. Onkoloji Enstitüsü, Temel Onkoloji ABD, İstanbul
3İ.Ü. Onkoloji Enstitüsü, Prevantif Onkoloji Bilim Dalı, İstanbul
4İ.Ü. Onkoloji Enstitüsü, Klinik Onkoloji ABD, İstanbul
5İ.Ü. Onkoloji Enstitüsü, Temel Onkoloji ABD, Kanser Biyokimyası Bilim Dalı Başkanı
6İ.Ü. Onkoloji Enstitüsü Müdürü We evaluated the association between pretreatment serum levels of IL-6 and metastatic distribution and survival in 16 patients with metastatic malignant melanoma. Serum IL-6 levels were determined by double-antibody sandwich assay (R&D Systems, Inc. Minneapolis, USA). The serum IL-6 levels were significantly higher in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma than in the control group (p=0.009). Serum IL-6 levels were higher in patients with weight loss (p=0.02), anemic (p=0.026), elevated serum LDH levels (p= 0.028), and chemotherapy nonresponding (p=0.016). Elevated serum IL-6 concentration (p=0.002) was found as adverse prognostic factor as patients with poor performance status, weight loss, low serum hemoglobin, elevated serum LDH and unresponsive to chemotherapy. Serum levels of IL-6 was found prognostic factor as valuable as serum LDH levels in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma. Their prognostic value should be further evaluated in a larger patient population. Keywords : Metastatic, malignant melanoma,IL-6, serum, survival