Serum interleukin-8 as an indicator of tumor recurrence in hepatocellular carcinoma after transarterial chemoembolization

To investigate the relationship between inflammatory cytokines and the recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients post transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), sixty patients with HCC who received TACE for the first time from February 2014 to October 2016 were enrolled. Peripheral blood was collected before and 3 days after TACE to examine C-reactive protein (CRP) and inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1 beta and IL-8. Clinicopathological features including liver function, the number and size of tumors, and the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging were all taken into consideration for further analysis. A COX proportional hazards model was applied to perform a multivariate analysis of the prognostic factors which may predict the relapse free survival (RFS) of HCC. Finally, a Kaplan-Meier curve analysis was used to analyze the relationship between the cumulative recurrence rate and inflammatory cytokines. The results indicated that the levels of IL-2R, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-alpha, and CRP on the third day after TACE were significantly higher than the levels before TACE, while IL-1, IL-10 decreased significantly (P < 0.05). A COX analysis showed that the IL-8 increase ratio (Delta IL-8/pre-IL-8) was an independent risk factor for recurrence after TACE (P = 0.02, HR = 1.21). The relationship between the cumulative recurrence rate and the IL-8 increase ratio was plotted with a Kaplan-Meier curve, and the log rank analysis verified the role of increased IL-8 as a predictive factor (chi(2) = 4.67, P = 0.031). In conclusion, TACE causes significant changes in CRP and inflammatory cytokines in patients with HCC, and IL-8 may be used as a potential predictor of tumor recurrence post TACE.