Open AccessInvestigation of Interleukin-27 in the Sera of Nonmelanoma Skin Cancer Patients
Author(s) -
Mehdi Ghahartars,
Shiva Najafzadeh,
Shabnam Abtahi,
Mohammad Javad Fattahi,
Abbas Ghaderi
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
dermatology research and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.456
H-Index - 29
eISSN - 1687-6113
pISSN - 1687-6105
DOI - 10.1155/2018/8321302
Subject(s) - skin cancer , medicine , pathological , immune system , carcinogenesis , basal cell carcinoma , cytokine , basal (medicine) , oncology , cancer , immunology , basal cell , cancer research , dermatology , insulin
IL-27 has been shown to have both tumor promoting and suppressing functions. IL-27, with its diverse influences on immune responses, has not been studied extensively in nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSC), including Squamous and Basal Cell Carcinomas (SCC and BCC), and its roles in tumor initiation, progression, and its probable use in NMSC treatment have yet to be unveiled. A cross-sectional analytical study was designed to investigate the serum levels of IL-27 in NMSC patients in comparison to normal individuals. Levels of IL-27 in the sera of 60 NMSC patients along with 28 healthy controls were measured by means of quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In this study we observed that IL-27 serum levels were significantly higher in NMSC patients in comparison to healthy individuals (0.0134 versus 0.0008 ng/ml; P<0.001). Furthermore, when subcategorized based on pathological diagnosis, both BCC and SCC patients had higher levels of IL-27 in their sera compared to controls (P=0.002 and P=0.033; respectively). However, these levels were not different among SCC and BCC patients. According to our results, it seems that IL-27 is involved in antitumor immune responses in NMSCs. On the other hand, these observations might be indicative of this cytokine involvement in NMSC tumorigenesis and progression. Therefore, administration of this cytokine for therapeutic purposes in patients with such conditions should be erred on the side of caution.