P1-01-15: Do Serum Cytokines Predict Breast Cancer Behavior?
Publication
, Journal Article
Lush, E; Dedert, E; Daup, M; Dhabhar, F; Spiegel, D; Tillie, J; McMasters, K; Sephton, SE; Chagpar, A
Published in: Cancer Research
Introduction: The role of inflammation in breast cancer development and progression is poorly understood. The potential for serum cytokines to predict breast cancer behavior is an intriguing hypothesis, and data to date, has been conflicting. We sought to determine if serum inflammatory cytokines could predict clinicopathologic factors in breast cancer patients.Methods: Fifty-seven women with newly diagnosed breast cancer (stage 0–4) were accrued to this IRB-approved study. Serum cytokine levels were obtained in 50 of these women; this was the cohort of interest. All patients underwent surgical therapy, and log serum cytokine levels were correlated to final pathologic results. Results: The median patient age was 51 (range; 21–79) with a median tumor size was 19.5 mm (range; 2.3−95.0 mm). A variety of cytokines were evaluated. None were found to correlate with tumor size, lymph node status, presence of metastases, tumor grade, or lymphovascular invasion (all p's > .05). While most of the cytokines evaluated did not correlate with hormone receptor status, a significant correlation was seen between serum IFN-gamma and estrogen receptor (p = .011) and progesterone receptor (p = .013) status. No correlation was seen with her-2-neu status (p > .05).Conclusions: Serum cytokine levels do not seem to correlate with tumor size, lymph node status or grade. However, the strong correlation between IFN-gamma serum levels and hormone receptor status is hypothesis-generating and requires further study.Citation Information: Cancer Res 2011;71(24 Suppl):Abstract nr P1-01-15.