Interleukin 8 in human hepatocellular carcinoma correlates with cancer cell invasion of vessels but not with tumor angiogenesis

• Published in: Annals of surgical oncology Vol. 12; no. 10; pp. 800 - 807
• Main Authors: Kubo, Fumitake, Ueno, Shinichi, Hiwatashi, Kiyokazu, Sakoda, Masahiko, Kawaida, Koichi, Nuruki, Kensuke, Aikou, Takashi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Springer Nature B.V 01-10-2005
• Subjects: Adult; Aged; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - blood supply; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular - physiopathology; Cell Proliferation; Chemotaxis; Female; Gene Expression Profiling; Humans; Interleukin-8 - biosynthesis; Interleukin-8 - physiology; Liver Neoplasms - blood supply; Liver Neoplasms - physiopathology; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Invasiveness; Neoplasm Metastasis; Neovascularization, Pathologic; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Tumor Cells, Cultured
• ISSN: 1068-9265; 1534-4681
• DOI: 10.1245/ASO.2005.07.015

Angiogenic factor seems necessary for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is a hypervascular malignancy. This study examined the expression of interleukin (IL)-8, a potent angiogenic factor, in HCC samples.
We measured IL-8 expression by using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction in clinical HCC tissues from 45 patients who underwent surgical resection. We then assessed correlations between IL-8 expression and microvessel growth or clinicopathologic factors. We also elucidated the in vitro effect of IL-8 on HepG2 development by using fluorometric assays of proliferation, chemotaxis, and invasion.
The expression of IL-8 did not significantly correlate with the microvessel count in HCC tissues, but the incidence of microscopic vessel invasion was significantly higher in IL-8-positive than in IL-8-negative tissues. Thus, more IL-8 was expressed in HCCs at pathologic stage III/IV than in those at stage I/II. Assays in vitro showed that IL-8 stimulates HepG2 chemotactic and invasive activities rather than cell proliferation.
The expression of IL-8 in human HCC has more relevance to metastatic potential, such as vessel invasion, than to angiogenesis or cell proliferation.