To assess the association of plasma
cytokines and
growth factor levels with clinical characteristics and inflammatory indices in patients with
gastric cancer.Plasma samples derived from 99
gastric cancer patients were used for analysis. Levels of
interferon (IFN)-γ,
tumor growth factor (TGF)-β1,
tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α),
interleukin (IL)-1β,
IL-2,
IL-4,
IL-6,
IL-8,
IL-10,
IL-12p40, IL-12p70, and
vascular endothelial growth factor (
VEGF) were measured by Luminex
suspension array technology. The association between
cytokine/
growth factor levels and demographic/clinical characteristics was assessed. Correlation between
cytokines and
growth factor levels was assessed by Pearson's correlation analysis.Male patients had significant higher levels of plasma TNF-α, IL-12p70,
IL-4,
IL-10, and
VEGF as compared with those in women (P < .05). Plasma levels of TNF-α in older patients with
gastric cancer (≥60 years) were higher than those in young patients (P < .05). Elevated plasma levels of
IL-8 and
IL-10 were identified as risk factors for increased
tumor size (diameter ≥5 cm). Higher plasma levels of TGF-β1 were associated with increased risk of vascular or nerve invasion and advanced
tumor stage. The levels of systemic inflammatory markers, including white blood cell counts, neutrophil/lymphocyte proportion, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR),
C-reactive protein and modified Glasgow prognostic score (mGPS) were closely associated with a series of plasma
cytokines. A prominent correlation was observed between the plasma IL-12p70 and IFN-γ levels (r = 0.729, P < .01).Our findings suggest that plasma
cytokines and
growth factor levels may help predict the development and progression of
gastric cancer. Our findings need to be validated by larger studies.