IL8 and serum soluble TRAIL levels following anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody treatment in patients with metastatic colon cancer.

BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer is the third most common human cancer and the third leading cause of cancer related death. BevacizumAb is a humanized monoclonal antibody developed against vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for the treatment of metastatic cancers. Our goal was to evaluate the possibility of using serum sTRAIL and IL8 as markers of treatment efficacy and prognosis in patients with metastatic colon cancer. METHODS The study was conducted in Denizli between November 10, 2009 and September 20, 2010. 25 patients (6 female, 19 male) with metastatic colon cancer whose mean age was 58.7 years, were selected and included in the study. All patients received therapy with BevacizumAb. All patients were followed in the Oncology Clinic of Denizli State Hospital and were evaluated by clinical status, sTRAIL and IL8 levels were measured by ELISA in the sera of 25 BevacizumAb treated metastatic colon cancer patients and 20 healthy age-gender matched controls. Measurements were taken before and after treatment. RESULTS The serum sTRAIL concentrations in patients before therapy were similar to those of healthy age-gender matched controls, namely 1.23 +/- 0.06 ng/mL and 1.21 +/- 0.04 ng/mL, respectively. After BevacizumAb treatment, sTRAIL ratios were increased significantly in 11 of 25 patients. 14 patients showed progressive disease with median overall survival of only 8.1 +/- 0.4 months. These 14 patients were the same ones who showed no increase in sTRAIL levels after BevacizumAb treatment. We explored evidence for a correlation between sTRAIL levels and overall survival rates and observed that elevated sTRAIL levels after the BevacizumAb treatment were significantly associated with increased median overall survival up to 22.6 months. Serum IL8 levels were decreased in all patients who received BevacizumAb therapy. CONCLUSIONS In BevacizumAb therapy, serum IL8 levels were decreased in all patients, and thus, changes in such levels were not correlated with disease outcome. Our data suggest measurement of changes in sTRAIL following BevacizumAb treatment may have prognostic value in metastatic colon cancer patients.