Background: The type 2 cytokine interleukin (IL)-10 has been reported to inhibit the antitumour activity of the regional immunity against various neoplasms. Certain lung cancers produce IL-10, but the clinical significance of IL-10 expression is not well understood.
Patients and methods: We examined IL-10 and IL-10 receptor (IL-10R) mRNA expression in 82 non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC) by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA) were applied to evaluate the cellular localisation and the serum levels of IL-10.
Results: RT-PCR assay revealed IL-10 mRNA expression in 68 (83%) of 82 NSCLC surgical specimens (40 of 50 adenocarcinomas, 22 of 26 squamous cell carcinomas, 5 of 5 large-cell carcinomas, 1 of 1 adenosquamous-cell carcinoma). RT-PCR assay also revealed IL-10R mRNA expression in 79 cases of NSCLC (96.1%). IL-10 expression was confirmed within tumour cells by IHC. EIA showed no significant serum IL-10 elevation in the 12 NSCLC positive for IL-10 mRNA expression (0-2.99 pg/ml). The NSCLC patients with IL-10 production showed significantly poorer prognosis than those without IL-10 production (P < 0.05, Kaplan Meier, log-rank test).
Conclusions: These results suggested that the cytoplasmic IL-10 correlated to clinical prognosis, and that IL-10 expression is a prognostic factor for NSCLC.