Local and Systemic Interleukin-32 in Esophageal, Gastric, and Colorectal Cancers: Clinical and Diagnostic Significance

• Published in: Diagnostics (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 10; p. 785
• Main Authors: Diakowska, Dorota, Krzystek-Korpacka, Małgorzata
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 04.10.2020; MDPI
• Subjects: anatomical subsite heterogeneity; Biological activity; Blood & organ donations; cancer biomarker; Chemotherapy; Cytokines; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; Esophageal cancer; Granulocytes; Growth factors; immunomodulator; Inflammation; Inflammatory bowel disease; Medical prognosis; Metastasis; Oxidative stress; Proteins; Risk factors; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; Poland; United States > US; hypoxia; immunomodulator; invasion; inflammation; metastasis; angiogenesis; tumor molecular margin; anatomical subsite heterogeneity; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; cancer biomarker
• ISSN: 2075-4418; 2075-4418
• DOI: 10.3390/diagnostics10100785

Little is known on clinical and diagnostic relevance of interleukin-32 in gastrointestinal tract (GIT) cancers. We determined its mRNA ( = 52) and protein ( = 63) expression in paired (tumor-normal) samples from esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and gastric (GC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, with reference to cancer-associated genes, and quantified circulating interleukin-32 in 70 cancer patients and 28 controls. expression was significantly upregulated solely in ESCC, reflecting T stage in non-transformed tumor-adjacent tissue. Fold-change in and IL-32 was higher in left-sided CRC, owing to high interleukin expression in non-transformed right-sided colonic mucosa. was independently and positively associated with , , and and negatively with in tumors and with and in non-transformed tumor-adjacent tissue. IL-32 protein was significantly upregulated in colorectal tumors. In ESCC, advanced stage and lymph node metastasis were associated with significant IL-32 upregulation. Circulating interleukin was significantly elevated in cancer patients, more so in ESCC and GC than CRC. As biomarker, IL-32 detected gastroesophageal cancers with 99.5% accuracy. In conclusion, IL-32 is upregulated in GIT cancers at local and systemic level, reflecting hypoxia and proliferative and invasive/metastatic capacity in tumors and immunosuppressive and antiapoptotic potential in non-transformed mucosa, while being an accurate biomarker of gastroesophageal cancers.