Evaluation of cytokine levels as possible predicting elements in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to assess the patterns of serum cytokines in chronic lymphocytic leukemia patients at baseline and post-chemotherapy and investigate their association with response to treatment and chronic lymphocytic leukemia prognosis. METHODS: Blood samples were taken from 32 subjects at their first medical visit after being diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia and 1 year after chemotherapy. Then, levels of cytokines and blood parameters in peripheral blood were measured. Correlation analysis was used to assess the indexes before and after chemotherapy as well as at different disease stages. RESULTS: Most of the patients (45.80%) had stages I and III before initiation of treatment and after treatment, respectively. There were significant differences between levels of interleukin (IL)-6 (p=0.006) and IL-10 (p=0.009) before and after treatment. Notably, the difference in IL-10 levels before and after treatment was significantly higher in the advanced stages compared to that in the non-advanced stages (p=0.007). IL-6 and IL-10 were also higher in the expired patients compared to the survived cases. CONCLUSIONS: Cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-10 may be considered predicting factors for chronic lymphocytic leukemia prognosis.