Expression Of P16 Protein And VEGF And The Level Of Serum Interleukin-10 In Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Objective To investigate the correlation between the expression of pl6 protein and VEGF and the level of serum interleukin(IL)-10 and clinic biological behavior, and to evaluate their clinical significance of detection of the expression of p16 protein and VEGF and IL-10 serum levels in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients. Methods Expression of p16 protein and VEGF were examined by immunohistochemical staining S-P in 70 cases of NPC and 31 cases of inflammatory nasopharyngeal mucosa. IL-10 serum levels were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in 60 patients with NPC and 20 cases of normal control group, and the dynamic variations in IL-10 serum levels between pre-radiotherapy (pre-RT) and post-radiotherapy (post-RT) were evaluated in part of patients.Results The positive expression rate of pl6 protein was 24.3% in NPC, 83.9% in inflammatory nasopharyngeal mucosa respectively (po.o5). The positive expression rate of p16 protein was 23.6% in patients with lymph node metastasis, 26.7% in patients without lymph node metastasis, 16.7% in post-RT patients with recurrence or distant metastasis, 25% in post-RT patients without recurrence or distant metastasis respectively, but no significant relationship were observed between the expression of p16 protein and lymph node metastasis and post-RT recurrence and distant metastasis (p>0.05). No significant difference in the positive expression rate of VEGF was observed between NPC and inflammatory nasopharyngeal mucosa (p>0.05) and there were no significant correlation between the expression of VEGF and clinical staging, lymph node metastasis as well as post-RT recurrence and metastasis in NPC (p>0.05). There was no significant correlation between the expression of p16 protein and that of VEGF in NPC ( r=0.102, p=0.43 ). IL-10 serum levels was 257.27±53.10 pg/ml in NPC patients, 42.04±29.64 pg/ml in normal control group respectively (p<0.005). IL-10 serum levels was 230.98±78.30 pg/ml in early stage ( stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ) and 268.54±32.89 pg/ml in advanced stage ( stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ) patients (p=0.011). IL-10 serum levels in patients with lymph node metastasis or distant metastasis were higher than that in patients without lymph node metastases or distant metastases, but no statistically significance were observed (p>o.o5). Among those patients had local control after radiotherapy, IL-10 serum levels in post-RT patients ( 70.41±17.04pg/ml ) significantly decreased as compared to that of pre-RT patients (266.88±32.00pg/ml) (p<0.005).Conclutions Reduced expression of p16 protein may be associated with the carcinogenesis and development of NPC. Detection of IL-10 serum levels is of significance in diagnosing, staging, and evaluating the outcome for NPC patients, and it is worthy of futher studies.