Determination of Changes in Interleukin-8 Gene Expression in Colorectal Cancer Tissues and Its Relationship with Pathological and Clinical Features of the Affected Patients

Interleukin-8 (IL-8) is a member of the pro-inflammatory chemokine family that has been reported to be overexpressed in various human tumors. This chemokine contributes to cancer cell survival, proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis. The purpose of this study was to examine the expression level and clinicopathological significance of IL-8 in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues compared with adjacent normal colorectal tissues in the Iranian population.

The population of the study consisted of 45 pathologically confirmed patients with CRC, including CRC and adjacent control tissues. The expression levels of the IL-8 gene were evaluated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). The correlation between the expression levels and the clinicopathological features was determined.

IL-8 gene expression was overexpressed in CRC samples compared with controls (fold change=5.5; P= 0.02). The area under the ROC curve for IL-8 indicates the potential of IL-8 as the diagnostic marker in CRC (P=0.012).

IL-8, which is up-regulated in CRC tissues, can be used to distinguish inflammation-induced CRC from control samples. The significantly up-regulated level of IL-8 needs future investigation for consideration as a biomarker to evaluate the prognosis of CRC.