Clinicopathological significance of overexpression of interleukin-6 in colorectal cancer

AIM: To compare the expression levels of interleukin (IL)-6 in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues, and analyse the correlation of IL-6 expression with the clinicopathological parameters of CRC. METHODS: Fifty CRC tissue specimens and 50 matched adjacent mucosa specimens were collected. The expression of IL-6 in these clinical samples was examined by immunohistochemical staining. The correlation between IL-6 expression and clinicopathological parameters was assessed by statistical analysis. RESULTS: IL-6 expression was significantly elevated in CRC tissues compared with noncancerous tissues (P < 0.001). IL-6 expression was positively correlated with tumour TNM stage (P < 0.001), but a negative correlation was detected between IL-6 expression and tumor histological differentiation in CRC (P < 0.05). Furthermore, IL-6 expression was associated with invasion depth and lymph node metastasis in CRC. CONCLUSION: IL-6 might be a useful marker for predicting a poor prognosis in patients with CRC and might be used as a potential therapeutic target in CRC.