Association between interleukin-36γ and tumor progression in non-small cell lung cancer

Immunotherapy is effective in improving the survival and prognosis of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and identifying effective immunomarkers is important for immunotherapy. Interleukin (IL)-36 gamma is a novel immunomarker that has an important function in the antitumor immune response. The present study investigated the association between IL-36 gamma and NSCLC to provide novel insight into immunotherapy for patients with NSCLC. Tissue microarrays of lung adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma were purchased for immunohistochemical analysis of IL-36 gamma expression levels and clinical parameters. In addition, fresh clinical NSCLC and adjacent normal tissue samples were collected to analyze IL-36 gamma mRNA expression levels using quantitative PCR. IL-36 gamma protein was primarily located in the cytoplasm, with a small quantity in the nucleus, and IL-36 gamma mRNA and protein expression levels in lung cancer tissues were significantly higher compared with those in adjacent normal tissues. Elevated IL-36 gamma protein expression levels were significantly associated with a higher tumor grade of lung adenocarcinoma; however, IL-36 gamma mRNA expression levels were inversely associated with the clinical Tumor-Node-Metastasis stage in patients with lung squamous cell carcinoma. In addition, patients with adenocarcinoma with high IL-36 gamma protein expression levels tended to longer post-operative survival times. These findings indicate that IL-36 gamma may have potential as an immunomarker for prediction of tumor progression and survival in patients with NSCLC.