Kabut Jacek, Mielczarek-Palacz Aleksandra, Gola Joanna Magdalena, Chełmecka Elżbieta, Gorzelak-Magiera Anita, Królewska-Daszczyńska Patrycja, Stępień Sebastian, Wnuk Jakub Szymon, Gisterek-Grocholska Iwona
Department of Oncology and Radiotherapy, Medical University of Silesia, 40-055 Katowice, Poland.
Department of Immunology and Serology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Sosnowiec, Medical University of Silesia, 40-055 Katowice, Poland.
Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2025 Jul 10;47(7):537. doi: 10.3390/cimb47070537.
Breast cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed malignant tumours in women worldwide. Although modern medicine has led to advanced diagnostic methods and therapies that allow for increasingly effective treatment, the mechanisms underlying breast cancer development and progression remain the subject of intensive research. In the pathogenesis of this cancer, significant importance is attributed to interactions between tumour cells and the tumour microenvironment, in which soluble immune system mediators-cytokines-play a key role, including IL-21 and IL-22. These interleukins, by modulating the immune response, can both promote and inhibit tumour progression, and analysing their concentrations may prove helpful in diagnosis, disease progression prognosis, and the development of new therapies, including immunotherapy. The aim of this study was to determine the concentrations of IL-21 and IL-22 in a group of patients with invasive cancer, depending on the biological type of the tumour and its malignancy grade. The study involved 60 women with breast cancer and 20 women with benign breast lesions, and the analysis of IL-21 and IL-22 protein concentrations was performed using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. The analysis shows that the concentrations of IL-21 and IL-22 do not differ significantly depending on the malignancy grade of the tumour. However, a statistically significant negative correlation between the concentrations of IL-21 and IL-22 was observed exclusively in the group of patients with benign breast lesions. Due to the high heterogeneity of breast cancers, further research with a larger study group is necessary to better understand these parameters and possibly apply them clinically in patients with breast cancer.
乳腺癌是全球女性中最常被诊断出的恶性肿瘤之一。尽管现代医学带来了先进的诊断方法和治疗手段，使治疗效果日益显著，但乳腺癌发生和发展的机制仍是深入研究的课题。在这种癌症的发病机制中，肿瘤细胞与肿瘤微环境之间的相互作用具有重要意义，其中可溶性免疫系统介质——细胞因子发挥着关键作用，包括白细胞介素-21（IL-21）和白细胞介素-22（IL-22）。这些白细胞介素通过调节免疫反应，既能促进也能抑制肿瘤进展，分析它们的浓度可能有助于诊断、疾病进展预后以及包括免疫疗法在内的新疗法的开发。本研究的目的是根据肿瘤的生物学类型及其恶性程度，测定一组浸润性癌症患者体内IL-21和IL-22的浓度。该研究纳入了60名乳腺癌女性患者和20名乳腺良性病变女性患者，并采用酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）法对IL-21和IL-22蛋白浓度进行分析。分析表明，IL-21和IL-22的浓度并不会因肿瘤的恶性程度而有显著差异。然而，仅在乳腺良性病变患者组中观察到IL-21和IL-22浓度之间存在统计学上的显著负相关。由于乳腺癌具有高度异质性，因此有必要以更大的研究群体进行进一步研究，以更好地理解这些参数，并有可能在乳腺癌患者中临床应用这些参数。
