Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate correlation between interleukin-6 (IL-6) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) levels in the serum of patients with cervical cancer and tumor progression, and to quantify predictive value of combined detection of two for prognosis. METHODS: A total of 80 cervical cancer patients treated in our hospital from June 2020 to December 2022 were retrospectively selected as the cervical cancer group. Following the principle of 1:1:1, 80 healthy subjects were selected as controls, and 80 benign patients detected by pathological examination were selected as the benign group. The changes in serum levels of IL-6 and IL-10 among the three groups were compared. Patients were followed up and further divided into a progressive group of 38 cases and a non-progressive group of 42 cases based on whether they experienced disease progression. Clinical data of included subjects were analyzed, such as patient age, pathological type, differentiation degree, TNM staging, etc. The influencing factors of disease progression were assessed using a COX regression model. ROC curves were applied to analyze predictive value of serum IL-6 and IL-10 detection alone or in combination for disease progression. These subjects were followed up for 24 months, and relationship between IL-6, IL-10, and survival was assessed using Kaplan Meier survival curve. RESULT: Patients in the benign group had much higher IL-6 and IL-10 serum levels than those in the control group (P < 0.001). Cervical cancer patients had much higher IL-6 and IL-10 serum levels than those in benign (P < 0.001). Compared with non-progression, proportion of patients with low differentiation, stage III + IV, and serum IL-6 and IL-10 levels in progression was markedly higher (P = 0.015, 0.011, 0.000, 0.000). COX multivariate analysis confirmed that IL-6 (HR = 3.258, 95% CI: 2.067-5.135, P < 0.001) and IL-10 (HR = 4.125, 95% CI: 1.714-9.924, P < 0.001) were both independent influencing factors for the disease progression of patients with cervical cancer. ROC curve analysis confirmed that AUC for the combined detection of IL-6 and IL-10 was 0.883, with an 85.71% sensitivity and an 86.84% specificity. Combined detection had a higher AUC than the single indicator detection of 0.823 and 0.807 (Z = - 1.857, - 1.969, P < 0.05), indicating that the combined detection had a certain predictive value for the progression of cervical cancer. After 24 months of follow-up, the survival rate of cervical cancer patients was 58.75% (47/80). The cut-off values of serum IL-6 and IL-10 in cervical cancer patients were analyzed using ROC curve analysis. Patients were grouped into IL-6 low expression group (≤ 71.47 ng/mL), IL-6 high expression group (> 71.47 ng/mL), IL-10 low expression group (≤ 14.30 pg/mL), and IL-10 high expression group (> 14.30 pg/mL). Kaplan Meier survival curve analysis proved that median survival time of IL-6 and IL-10 low expression was higher than that of IL-6 and IL-10 high expression (IL-6 28.5 vs .12.5, IL-10 25.5 vs. 15.0) (P = 0.018). CONCLUSION: Serum IL-6 and IL-10 levels in patients with cervical cancer were raised. COX multivariate analysis stated that there was an independent association between the two and the disease progression, and they might be potential biomarkers for evaluating the disease progression. The levels of the two were positively correlated. The AUC of the combined detection was 0.883, suggesting that it owned certain predictive value for disease progression, and its clinical application needed further verification.