INFLAMMATORY CYTOKINES AS POTENTIAL BIOMARKERS FOR MONITORING THERAPEUTIC RESPONSE IN BLADDER CANCER
Keywords:
Bladder cancer, inflammatory cytokines, IL-2, IL-6, TNF-α, biomarkers, therapeutic response, immune response, cytokine profile, disease monitoringAbstract
Background: Bladder cancer is the most frequent cancer in the world and the most common malignancy of the urinary system where different cytokines that are important for fighting tumors, are produced during this response and have effectively a treatment works.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the role of inflammatory cytokines as non-invasive biomarkers for monitoring therapeutic response in patients with bladder cancer.
Methods: A total of 80 patients with bladder cancer were enrolled and classified into pre-treatment and post-treatment groups, in addition to 30 healthy controls. Serum levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) were measured and statistically analyzed according to treatment status, type, and duration.
Results: The results showed a significant increase in IL-2 and IL-6 levels in the post-treatment group compared with controls, while TNF-α levels were significantly elevated in bladder cancer patients irrespective of treatment status. IL-6 exhibited a progressive and statistically significant increase across all groups and was positively associated with longer therapy duration. No significant differences were observed between different treatment modalities, which may be explained by the predominance of intravesical (local) therapies that mainly induce a local, rather than systemic, immune response.
Conclusion: These findings suggest that inflammatory cytokines, particularly IL-2 and IL-6, may serve as useful biomarkers for assessing immune activation and monitoring therapeutic response in bladder cancer, whereas a combined cytokine panel could provide a more accurate evaluation of treatment outcome and disease progression.
