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Psychosocial factors and interleukin‐6 among women with advanced ovarian cancer
Author(s) -
Costanzo Erin S.,
Lutgendorf Susan K.,
Sood Anil K.,
Anderson Barrie,
Sorosky Joel,
Lubaroff David M.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.21147
Subject(s) - medicine , psychosocial , ovarian cancer , ascites , mood , quality of life (healthcare) , social support , depression (economics) , interleukin , cancer , disease , interleukin 6 , metastasis , oncology , cytokine , gastroenterology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , psychology , nursing , economics , psychotherapist , macroeconomics
Abstract BACKGROUND Relations among psychological stress, depression, social support, and interleukin‐6 (IL‐6, a proinflammatory cytokine) have been documented in humans and animals. Because elevated IL‐6 is associated with a poorer prognosis among ovarian cancer patients and has been implicated in the metastasis of ovarian cancer, the current study examined relations between psychosocial factors and IL‐6 among women with advanced‐stage ovarian cancer. METHODS Sixty‐one ovarian cancer patients completed assessments of social support, distressed mood, and quality of life before surgery. Peripheral blood was drawn preoperatively, and the plasma was assayed for IL‐6. Ascites samples were also assayed for IL‐6 for a subset of patients. RESULTS Both IL‐6 levels and distressed mood were elevated among patients. After statistically adjusting effects of age and disease stage, social attachment was associated with lower levels of IL‐6 in peripheral blood ( P = 0.03), whereas poorer health‐related quality of life was associated with higher IL‐6 ( P values ranged from 0.01 to 0.03 on different measures). This pattern of relations was also found in the ascites. Moreover, IL‐6 levels in peripheral blood plasma correlated significantly with IL‐6 in the ascites ( P < 0.001), suggesting that peripheral IL‐6 reflects IL‐6 levels at the site of the tumor. CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that social support may play a protective role with respect to IL‐6 elevations, and IL‐6 may be an independent marker of health‐related quality of life among ovarian cancer patients. Processes involving IL‐6 represent possible pathways by which behavioral factors may contribute to disease outcomes among women with ovarian cancer. Cancer 2005. © 2005 American Cancer Society.