Background: Helicobacter pylori is etiologically involved in the development of gastric cancer and infected gastric mucosa has been shown to possess elevated levels of cytokines [for example interleukin (IL)-1beta, IL-6 and IL-8]. Because specific cytokines have also been shown to enhance the development of certain cancers, we examined the relationship between the levels of cytokines, the type and stage of gastric cancers, and the H. pylori infection.
Materials and methods: Cytokines were measured from gastric cancer tissues, adjacent normal appearing mucosa, and the serum in 66 patients with early or advanced gastric cancer and from controls using semiquantitative RT-PCR and ELISA.
Results: IL-6 and IL-8 levels were more than 10-fold increased in cancer tissues as compared with normal gastric tissues. IL-8 levels in cancer tissues were more than 2-fold higher in advanced gastric cancer as compared with early gastric cancer irrespective of H. pylori status. IL-6 levels were significantly higher in early gastric cancer with active H. pylori infection as compared with early cancer without H. pylori infection (8.7 + 1.4 vs. 1.2 + 0.3 pg/mg protein, p <.001) and decreased significantly after the cure of H. pylori (11.1 + 2.9-8.2 + 2.3 pg/mg protein, p <.05).
Conclusions: IL-8 levels in gastric cancer tissue are largely independent of H. pylori infection. In contrast, tissue IL-6 levels were high in H. pylori infected early gastric cancer and fell significantly after the cure of H. pylori suggesting a relationship between H. pylori infection and early gastric cancer.