Baseline Plasma Levels of Interleukin-8 in Stage IV Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer Patients: Relationship With Nutritional Status and Prognosis

Abstract

Interleukin (IL)-8 promotes cellular proliferation and angiogenesis in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and may be related to cachexia. Our aim was to investigate the relationship of IL-8 levels with nutritional status, and clinical outcome of patients with NSCLC. Patients with metastatic NSCLC referred for first-line therapy were eligible. Baseline IL-8 levels were measured in plasma. The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) was used for the evaluation of the nutritional status, and patients were classified into 3 groups: A (score 24–30) “well nourished,” B (score 17–23.5) “risk of malnutrition,” and C (0–16.5) “malnourishment.” Response to first-line chemotherapy, time-to-tumor progression (TTP), and overall survival (OS) were also recorded. In total, 114 patients (101 males, 88.5%; mean age = 67.5 yr) were evaluated. Performance status was 0–1 in 62% of the patients. According to the MNA, the majority of patients (71%) was either at nutritional risk or malnourished. IL-8 levels were significantly different between MNA groups (P = 0.023) and correlated with TTP (P = 0.013) and OS (P = 0.001) in univariate analysis. Baseline IL-8 levels correlate with the nutritional status of patients with metastatic NSCLC, suggesting that this cytokine may be related with cachexia.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was partly supported by an unrestricted research grant from the Cretan Association for Biomedical Research (CABR).