Serum cytokines and CXCR2: potential tumour markers in ovarian neoplasms

The aim was to investigate the systemic levels of cytokines and the expression of the chemokine receptor CXCR2 in circulating neutrophils in patients with non-neoplastic ovarian lesions, benign neoplasia or malignant neoplasia.Controls and patients with ovarian tumours were pre-operatively compared for the production of cytokines (IL-2, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and TNF-α) by ELISA, and for the expression of the chemokine receptor, CXCR2, in neutrophils, by flow cytometry. Randomly selected patients within the malignant group were re-evaluated for the inflammatory parameters at 30 days after surgery.The serum concentrations of IL-6, IL-8 and IL-10 were significantly higher in the benign and malignant neoplasia than in the control group, and their levels were significantly higher in ovarian cancer patients than in patients with non-neoplastic tumours or benign neoplasia. Treatment reduced IL-8 serum levels but did not affect CXCR2 expression in neutrophils. Cut-off values for IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 comparing malignant vs. benign neoplasia were 11.3, 71.7, 14.8, and comparing malignant neoplasm vs. non-neoplastic lesions were 7.2, 43.5, 12.3, respectively.Serum IL-6, IL-8, and IL-10 levels, and expression of CXCR2 in circulating neutrophils seem promising for distinguishing ovarian cancer patients from patients with benign tumours.