This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Save to my personal folders Download to citation manager Rights & Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Altundag, O. Articles by Gunduz, E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Altundag, O. Articles by Gunduz, E. Social Bookmarking                            What's this?

Interleukin-6 and C-Reactive Protein in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma

Ankara, Turkey
Department of Medical Oncology, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
Department of Oral Pathology and Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry, Okayama University, Japan

To the Editor:

We read with great interest the study by Negrier et al,¹ which stated that circulating interleukin-6 (IL-6) level appears to be an important independent prognostic factor in patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). IL-6 plays a major role in inflammatory processes. It modulates the transcription of several liver-specific genes during acute inflammatory states, particularly C-reactive protein (CRP). Metastatic RCC is also associated with a high incidence of paraneoplastic syndrome, a condition characterized by fever and elevated levels of acute-phase markers (eg, CRP), as well as by a decrease in serum albumin, thrombocytosis, and anemia, all of which appear to be due to abnormal cytokine production (eg, IL-6) or immunogenic mechanisms. Blay et al² found that serum levels of IL-6 in RCC patients with paraneoplastic fever and weight loss were higher than those in RCC patients without paraneoplastic symptoms, thus suggesting a role for IL-6 in this syndrome. Three patients with paraneoplastic syndrome entering the study by Blay et al were treated with a monoclonal antibody to IL-6 therapy, and all showed reduced levels of CRP, haptoglobin, and serum alkaline phosphatases over 21 days of treatment. In light of the above information, prognostic significance of CRP, as well as the other cytokines, in metastatic RCC must be determined. Moreover, CRP measurement is also more cost effective than IL-6 measurement in routine practice.

Authors' Disclosures of Potential Conflicts of Interest

The authors indicated no potential conflicts of interest.

REFERENCES

1. Negrier S, Perol D, Menetrier-Caux C, et al: Interleukin-6, interleukin-10, and vascular endothelial growth factor in metastatic renal cell carcinoma: prognostic value of interleukin-6–from the Groupe Francais d'Immunotherapie. J Clin Oncol 22:2371-2378, 2004[Abstract/Free Full Text]

2. Blay J-Y, Rossi J-F, Wijdenes J, et al: Role of interleukin-6 in the paraneoplastic inflammatory syndrome associated with renal-cell carcinoma. Int J Cancer 72:424-430, 1997[CrossRef][Medline]

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Facebook    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This Article Full Text (PDF) Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Save to my personal folders Download to citation manager Rights & Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Altundag, O. Articles by Gunduz, E. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Altundag, O. Articles by Gunduz, E. Social Bookmarking                            What's this?