Association of Serum Interleukin-6 and Interleukin-8 Levels with Clinical Benefit from Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Patients with Advanced Gastric Cancer

Liang Han^1*, Yuan Yuan^1*, Yu Feng¹, Xiaowu Li¹

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¹ Department of Medical Oncology, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, China

EJMO 2023, 7(3), 227–231; https://doi.org/10.14744/ejmo.2023.38141

Submitted: 2 August 2023 | Accepted: 28 August 2023 | Published: 6 October 2023

© 2023 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )

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Abstract

Objectives: This study mainly analyzes the association between serum interleukin-6(IL-6) and interleukin-8(IL-8) levels and clinical benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors in patients with advanced gastric cancer.

Methods: The clinical characteristics of 51 patients with advanced gastric cancer, diagnosed in our hospital and treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, were analyzed retrospectively in our study.

Results: After three cycles of immunotherapy, the level of serum IL-6 decreased in 10 patients (37%) and the level of serum IL-8 decreased in 27 patients (52%). Compared with patients with increased serum IL-6 level, patients with decreased serum IL-6 level tended to have higher partial response (PR), stable disease (SD), but the difference was not statistically significant. Compared with patients with increased serum IL-8 level, there were significant differences in PR, SD for patients with decreased serum IL-8 level(P≤0.05). Patients with decreased serum IL-6 or IL-8 levels tended to have better progression-free survival(PFS) and overall survival(OS) than those with increased serum IL-6 or IL-8 levels.

Conclusion: The changes in IL-6 and IL-8 levels could be as predictive indicators to predict benefit from immune checkpoint inhibition in advanced gastric cancer. Patients with decreased serum IL-6 or IL-8 levels during immunotherapy may achieve better clinical benefit.

Keywords

Gastric cancer

interleukin-6

interleukin-8

immune checkpoint inhibitor

Conflict of interest

None declared.

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