Selected cytokines in patients with pancreatic cancer: a preliminary report.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recent experimental studies have suggested that various cytokines may be important players in the development and progression of pancreatic cancer. However, these findings have not yet been verified in a clinical setting. METHODS: In this study, we examined the levels of a broad panel of cytokines, including interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-12, IL-17, and IL-23, as well as tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) in patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma (n=43), other pancreatic malignancies (neuroendocrine [n=10] and solid pseudopapillary tumors [n=3]), and healthy individuals (n=41). RESULTS: We found that there were higher levels of IL-6, IL-8, IL-10 and TNFα in patients with pancreatic cancer compared to healthy controls (for all, at least p