Abstract
BACKGROUND: Head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs) have devastating morbidity rates with mortality mainly because of metastasis. METHODS: Multiplex enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to assay a variety of cytokine levels secreted by a panel of stage-specific and anatomic site-specific primary, and recurrent and metastatic University of Michigan-HNSCC cell lines over a 72-hour time course. RESULTS: Conditioned medium from metastatic or recurrent HNSCC showed significantly higher amounts of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-6 receptor, tumor growth factor-beta (TGF-β) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) than nonmetastatic cells or normal oral keratinocytes. Tumor necrosis factor (TNF) was only secreted by stage IV, metastatic, or recurrence-derived cell lines. CONCLUSION: The cytokine profile of cultured HNSCC cells suggests that high levels of IL-6 and IL-6R, TGF-β, and VEGF are significantly related with their metastatogenic potential and provide rationale for determining if serum testing for a combination of these 4 soluble factors could be of predictive value for the HNSCC tumor progression and clinical outcome.