Table 2.
Basal levels of circulating cytokines in HCC patients.
| Cytokine level (pg/ml) [median (min-max)] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Viral infection | HCV+ (n=10) | HCV- (n=19) | p |
| IP-10 | 2606 (1478 – 7454) | 950 (398 – 2568) | <0.001 |
| IL-2Rα | 117 (58 – 284) | 65 (1 – 182) | <0.05 |
| MIG | 1029 (468 – 1550) | 551 (70 – 1740) | <0.01 |
|
| |||
| Treatment choice | RF (n=15) | TACE (n=14) | p |
|
| |||
| IL-15 | 21.5 (7.2 – 44.6) | 11.6 (0.2 – 27.8) | <0.01 |
| SDF-1a | 344 (157 – 552) | 511 (218 – 982) | <0.01 |
|
| |||
| BCLC stage | A (n=17) | B (n=10) | p |
|
| |||
| IL-8 | 15 (6 – 47) | 25 (10 – 54) | <0.05 |
| HGF | 409 (283 – 1111) | 590 (363 – 1649) | <0.05 |
Quantification of the serum cytokines was determined by using Bio-Plex kit (Bio-Rad) in Bio-Plex array reader (Luminex, Austin, TX). Cytokines levels were mentioned as median (min-max); statistical significance was calculated by using Student's t-test. HCV: hepatitis C virus, TACE: transarterial chemoembolization, RF: radiofrequency ablation, and BCLC: Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer.