Blood eosinophil and platelet levels, proteomics patterns of trail and CXCL8 correlated with survival in bevacizumab treated metastatic colon cancers.

STrail (soluble TNF-related apoptosis-inducing-ligand) has also been observed where the cytotoxic effects of antiangiogenic agents are increased in clinical phase II and III studies when these agents are combined with TRAIL related therapies. Recent studies have shown that CXCL8 and its receptors are significantly up-regulated in CRC and act as regulators of proliferation, angiogenesis, and metastasis. sTRAIL, CXCL8, CEA, together with complete blood count parameters (hemoglobine, platelet, eosinophil, basophil, neutrophil, lymphocyte) were recorded in the beginning and every three months afterwards for a period of 4 years. The study population comprised 21 of the 42 patients with metastatic colorectal cancer (MCRC), undergoing 18 FDG-PET/CT scanning prior to treatment. Progression free survival was 262 days and overall survival was 1148 days. Overall survival was higher in patients whose Karnofsky Performance scores were above 86% (p = 0.003). Progression free survival was higher in patients whose blood eosinophil counts at 0, 6, and 9 months were higher than the mean levels of corresponding values (p-values are 0.016, 0.032, and 0.001, respectively). Another significant positive correlation was found between the platelet levels at 9 months and progression free survival (p = 0.019). There were significant changes (p < 0.05) prior to treatment and three months later for sTRAIL (p = 0.0060) and CXCL8 (p = 0.00001), based on the Wilcoxon matched pairs signed rank test. Generally, sTRAIL values increased during therapy, while a decrease was observed for CXCL8 without any significant differences for other variables.

Increased serum sTRAIL levels were correlated with survival in bevacizumab-treated metastatic colon cancer.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is the third most common 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 cancer. The parameters of RECIST (Response Evaluation Criteria for Solid Tumors) are not adequate to detect important treatment effects and response. Our goal was to evaluate the possibility of using sTRAIL (serum-soluble TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand) and VEGF as markers of treatment efficacy and prognosis in patients with metastatic colon cancer. METHODS: sTRAIL and VEGF levels were measured by ELISA in the sera of 16 bevacizumab-treated metastatic colon cancer patients and 10 presumably healthy age-matched controls. The measurements were taken before and after treatment for comparison purposes. RESULTS: Elevated levels of sTRAIL were found in seven out of 16 patients after bevacizumab treatment. Although these patients had a median survival time of 20.6 months, the remaining bevacizumab-treated patients who did not show an increase in sTRAIL had a median survival time of 9.4 months. As expected, serum VEGF levels were decreased in all patients who received bevacizumab therapy and showed no correlation between serum VEGF levels and patient survival (data not shown). CONCLUSIONS: Serum sTRAIL levels might be a useful predictor of prognosis in metastatic colon cancer, in the early evaluation stages following bevacizumab treatment.

IL-8, IL-10, TGF-ß, and GCSF levels were increased in severe persistent allergic asthma patients with the anti-IgE treatment.

BACKGROUND: Allergic asthma is showed an increase in Th2-cytokine and IgE levels and an accumulation activation of Th2 cells, eosinophils and mast cells. However, recent studies focused on cell-based mechanisms for the pathogenesis of allergic asthma. Objectives. In this study, we compare the anti-IgE treatment modality in the dynamics of immune system cytokine levels in severe persistent asthma (SPA) patients who had no other any allergic disease, newly diagnosed allergic asthma patients and healthy volunteers. STUDY DESIGN: The study population consisted of 14 SPA patients, 14 newly diagnosed allergic asthma patients and 14 healthy volunteers included as controls. Cytokine levels were measured. Total and specific IgE levels of anti-IgE monoclonal antibody treated patients, serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) levels, FEV1/FVC rates and asthma control test (ACT) were measured for the clinical follow-up. RESULTS: We observed that SPA patients presented increasing levels of IL-8, IL-10, TGF-ß and GCSF during the anti-IgE treatment in period of sampling times at 4 months and 18 months. However this increase was not correlated neither with serum hsCRP levels nor FEV1/FVC rates. CONCLUSIONS: Our study gives a different perspective for the SPA and anti-IgE immunotherapy efficacy at the cell cytokine-linked step.

Anti-IgE Significantly Changes Circulating Interleukin-25, Vitamin-D and Interleukin-33 Levels in Patients with Allergic Asthma.

BACKGROUND: Multi-center, randomized-controlled trials and observational studies have demonstrated that, in severe asthmatic patients receiving omalizumab treatment, the frequency of exacerbations, the number of urgent adverse events, and the need for oral steroids tend to decrease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study included a total of 32 patients. The patients were divided into two groups as Group IA (pre-omalizumab) and Group IB (post-omalizumab). Serum IL-25 and IL-33 levels were measured and the number of emergency admissions, length of hospitalization (day), Asthma Control Test (ACT) scores, eosinophil cationic protein (ECP), and fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) value were analyzed. RESULTS: ACT and FeNO values increased after omalizumab treatment, while IL-33, IL-25 levels decreased after the completion of omalizumab treatment. Furthermore, there was a weak, positive, and significant relationship between the changes in the ECP levels and IL-33 levels (r=0.38, p=0.03). CONCLUSION: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to compare circulating IL-25 and IL-33 levels with specific IgE synthesis in the literature. Multivariate correlation analysis showed that the changes in serum IL-33 levels were significantly correlated with the changes in the mite sIgE levels and length of hospital stay (Fmodel=11.2, p=0.01, r2=0.45). On the other hand, there was no significant relationship between the other variables and changes in the IL-25 levels.