Open Access

ARTICLE

Circulating levels of TNF-α and its soluble receptors in the plasma of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer

Bozena Dobrzycka¹, Slawomir J. Terlikowski¹, Oksana Kowalczuk², Maciej Kinalski³

1 Department of Gynecological and Obstetrical Nursing, Medical University of Bialystok, Poland
2 Department of Clinical Molecular Biology, Medical University of Bialystok, Poland
3 Department of Gynecology, District Hospital in Bialystok, Poland

* Corresponding Author: S.J. Terlikowski,

European Cytokine Network 2009, 20(3), 131-134. https://doi.org/10.1684/ecn.2009.0161

Accepted 22 July 2009;

Abstract

The significance of circulating levels of TNF-α and its soluble receptors (sTNF-Rs) in the plasma of patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) has not been fully elucidated. The present study was to investi-gate the relationship of pretreatment plasma levels of TNF-α, sTNFR-1 and sTNFR-2 with outcome in 126 patients with EOC. Concentrations of TNF-α and sTNF-Rs were determined by enzyme-linked immunosor-bent assay (ELISA). Median TNF-α and sTNF-Rs levels were significantly higher in EOC patients than in healthy controls. High plasma levels of TNF-α and sTNF-Rs were correlated with tumor stage and with reduced mean survival time (MST). The results of the present study suggested that preoperative plasma TNF-α and sTNF-Rs levels in EOC patients correlated with the highest risk of cancer progression. Thus, the clinical value of an activated TNF system in EOC needs to be further investigated.

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