Expression of IL-6 and IL-6 receptors in ovarian cancer tissues and its relationship with prognosis of ovarian cancer patients

Objective To study the expression of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) in ovarian cancer tissues and its relationship with prognosis of ovarian cancer patients. Methods The tumor tissue samples of 94 patients admitted to People’s Hospital of Shouguang Affiliated to Weifang Medical College from 2006 to 2011 were selected as the research objects. The expression levels of IL-6 and IL-6R in tumor tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. The survival data of patients were analyzed by Kaplan-Meier method. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used for multivariate analysis. Results Of the 94 patients, 39 cases (41.5%) showed high expression of IL-6, and 32 cases (34.0%) showed high expression of IL-6R. There was no significant difference in progression-free survival and overall survival between patients with low expression of IL-6 and patients with high expression of IL-6 (P>0.05). The progression-free survival of patients with high expression of IL-6R was significantly lower than that of patients with low expression of IL-6R (P 1 cm (HR: 2.262; 95% CI: 1.301- 5.513; P=0.007), and FIGO stage Ⅲ/Ⅳ (HR: 12.92; 95% CI: 4.080-57.172; P<0.001) were independent risk factors of progression-free survival in patients with ovarian cancer. Conclusions IL-6R is an independent risk factor for progression-free survival of ovarian cancer patients and can be used for prognosis prediction in ovarian cancer patients. Key words: Ovarian cancer; Interleukin-6; Interleukin-6 receptor; Immunohistochemistry; Prognosis