Association between variants of IL-8 and IL-10 genes, and efficacy of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization and subsequent prognosis in patients with liver cancer.

OBJECTIVE

Our objective was to examine the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms of interleukin (IL)-8 (rs4073 and rs2227306) and IL-10 (rs1800871 and rs1800872) genes, and clinical effects of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) and subsequent prognosis in patients with liver cancer.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

115 patients with liver cancer underwent TACE. Venous blood specimens were collected for genomic DNA extraction. The restriction fragment length polymorphism-polymerase chain reaction (RFLP-PCR) analysis was used to detect the above variants of IL-8 and IL-10 genes. In addition, blood levels of alpha fetal protein (AFP) were quantified by radioimmunoassay. Patients were followed up to uncover the association of the above genotypes with treatment efficacy and survival.

RESULTS

Patients with the homozygous genotype AA or homozygous genotype TT (respectively, -251 and +781 sites) of IL-8 gene, and wild-type genotype TT or homozygous genotype AA (respectively, -819 and -592 sites) of IL-10 gene showed the best effectiveness of TACE. Furthermore, these patients also exhibited the lowest AFP levels and the longest survival after the treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Clinical efficacy of TACE and patient survival in liver cancer are associated with specific variants of IL-8 and IL-10 genes.