Interleukin-17 F (IL-17F) is a pro-inflammatory
cytokine that participate in inflammatory responses. Studies showed that
IL-17F is likely involved in
tumor development, but the biological function of
IL-17F in
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the biological role of
IL-17F in NSCLC and investigate its correlation with
biological markers CD31, P53, Ki-67 and
E-cadherin.
Paraffin-embedded
tumor tissues from 55 NSCLC patients were collected to detect
proteins expression using immunohistochemistry (IHC). 12 normal lung tissues samples were used as control. IHC results showed that the expression of
IL-17F in NSCLC cells (61.8%) was significantly higher compared with normal lung tissues (25.0%) (P < 0.05). The expression of
IL-17F was positively associated with
tumor differentiation and negatively associated with
lymph node metastasis and TNM staging (P all < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that
IL-17F expression was an independent factor associated with TNM staging (P < 0.01). Pearson's correlation analysis showed a negative correlation between
IL-17F and CD31 expression and a positive correlation between
IL-17F and
E-cadherin expression (P all < 0.05). There was no relationship between IL-17 F and P53 or Ki-67 expression in NSCLC tissues (P > 0.05). These data suggest that
IL-17 F may be considered as a potential marker for predicting the progression of NSCLC.