Correlation between serum levels of interleukin-6 and vascular endothelial growth factor in gastric carcinoma

Background and Aim: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) are associated with the disease status of gastric carcinoma. However, their relationship remains unclear. This study aims to determine and correlate serum levels of VEGF and IL-6 in gastric carcinoma. Methods: A total of 107 patients receiving gastrectomy entered this study. Serum levels of VEGF and IL-6 were measured by using ELISA, and were analyzed by using the Student's t-test to compare means and by Pearson correlation analysis to calculate correlation coefficients with respect to pathological characteristics including depth of tumor invasion, Lauren's classification, tumor location, Borrmann classification, and the status of lymph node metastasis. Results: Serum VEGF levels were significantly higher in patients with mixed type carcinoma (387.5 +/- 176.9 vs 255.3 +/- 154.1 pg/mL, P = 0.047) or lymph node metastasis (339.1 +/- 205.1 vs 223.2 +/- 197.4 pg/mL, P = 0.007). Serum IL-6 levels were significantly higher in patients with Borrmann type IV carcinoma, compared with Borrmann type II and III carcinoma. In general, no correlation was noted between serum VEGF levels and IL-6 levels (r = 0.142, P = 0.145), but significant correlation was found in patients with early gastric carcinoma (r = 0.627, P = 0.004) or mixed type carcinoma (r = 0.804, P = 0.016). Conclusions: This study supports the correlation between serum VEGF and IL-6 levels in distinct subsets of gastric carcinoma patients, and indicates that IL-6 may play a role for the angiogenesis of gastric carcinoma via modulation of VEGF. (C) 2002 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.