Background: Recent clinical studies have reported that some cytokines are associated with lung cancer prognosis and mortality. However, the relationship between cytokines and clinical outcomes in severe lung cancer patients was unclear. IL-6 as an important cytokine in inflammation, expression level in severe lung cancer patients was unknown.
Methods: A cohort of 55 severe lung cancer patients were enrolled retrospectively in this study. The clinical characteristics, including performance status (PS), therapeutic effect, and patients' adverse effects, were recorded. The association of cytokines and the concerned clinical outcomes were assessed by logistic regression analysis. The area under the curve (AUC) was assessed to evaluate the strength of prediction.
Results: The mean age of the patients was 59.8, and 42 patents were males. Increased IL-6 levels were associated with worse PS. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that higher IL-6 was associated with an increased risk of progressive disease (PD) (OR =1.03, 95% CI: 1.0-1.06). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) of the model used for predicting PD was 0.821.
Conclusions: Increased IL-6 levels are correlated with worse PS and are an essential predictor for PD in severe lung cancer patients. Monitoring the IL-6 level may represent an essential strategy in improving the prognosis of patients with severe lung cancer.
Keywords: Cytokines; IL-6; clinical outcomes; severe lung cancer.