Abstract
BACKGROUND: Correlations between idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and lung cancer have been discussed in many previous studies. In the present work, we evaluated the potential diagnostic value of serum levels of Th17 cell-related cytokines for the detection of lung cancer-associated IPF. METHODS: Fifty-six patients who had been diagnosed with lung cancer-associated IPF were enrolled, and 59 patients with lung cancer but without IPF were also enrolled, and 60 healthy volunteers were served as the control group. The expression of IL-22, IL-23, and IL-17 was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits. RESULTS: We observed that IL-22, IL-23 as well as IL-17 were significantly increased in the serum of lung cancer patients associated IPF; moreover, the results of ROC curve showed that the expression of IL-22, IL-23 and IL-17 can distinguish the lung cancer patients with lung cancer-associated IPF group; finally, the expression of IL-22, IL-23 and IL-17 was positively correlated with the degree of differentiation and metathesis of the tumor. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, we first reported that IL-22, IL-23 and IL-17 were elevated in the serum of patients with lung cancer-associated IPF, and our data may provide novel evidence for the prevention and treatment of lung cancer-associated IPF.