Interleukin 1 (IL-1) and IL-10 are critically involved in tumorigenesis. We investigated polymorphisms of IL-1 and IL-10 genes in patients with ovarian cancer (OC).
In a prospective, case–control study 147 patients with OC and 129 patients without history of any malignancy (CG) were genotyped for IL-1 gene (IL-1α − 889 T/C and IL-1β − 511 C/T) and IL-10 gene (IL-10 − 1082 G/A, − 819 C/T and − 592 C/A) using pyrosequencing.
IL-10 polymorphisms in − 819 and − 592 positions correlated with the postoperative residual tumor mass (p = 0.036 and p = 0.035, respectively). The chance of achieving optimal tumor debulking was 1.49 times greater for patients with the C/C genotype at − 819 and − 512 positions than for patients with other genotypes. There were no significant associations between allelic frequencies for IL-1α and IL-1β in OC. IL-10 − 819 CC and − 592 CC genotypes were associated in univariate analysis with a better disease-free and overall survival.
IL-10 promoter polymorphism may be related with the ability to achieve optimal tumor debulking. Polymorphism in IL-10 gene seems to influence the overall and disease-free survival rate. Subsequent multi-institutional studies with high number of patients are warranted to confirm these results.