The Relationship Between IL-6 and IL-10 Expression Levels and the Prognosis in B-Cell Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Patients Treated with R-CHOP

Quan Dong,1,* Wenxin Lin,1,* Saihui Yu,1 Yuxin Qin,1 Chuiming Jia,2 Na Wang,3 Wei Xiu,4 Weiqi Shan,5 Mei Dong,1,* Duo Liu1,* 1Department of Pharmacy, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, 150086, People’s Republic of China; 2Hematology Department, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, 150086, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Science and Education, Heilongjiang Provincial Hospital, Harbin, 150036, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Pharmacy, Heilongjiang Forest Industry General Hospital, Harbin, 150040, People’s Republic of China; 5Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, 150086, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Duo Liu, Department of Pharmacy, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, 150086, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected] Mei Dong, Department of Pharmacy, Harbin Medical University Cancer Hospital, Harbin, 150086, People’s Republic of China, Email [email protected]: To explore the relationship between the expression of IL-6 and IL-10 in the blood of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma (B-NHL) patients and their survival time and adverse reactions.Methods: The study collected and analyzed blood samples from 488 patients with B-NHL treated with rituximab (94 serum samples, 394 plasma samples) as well as plasma samples from 202 healthy subjects, along with relevant clinical information. Expression levels of IL-6 and IL-10 in the blood were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results: The expression of IL-6 in the plasma of B-NHL patients was significantly higher than those in healthy subjects (P < 0.001). Patients with low IL-6 expression (serum) had longer Event Free Survival (EFS) compared to those with high IL-6 expression (P = 0.011). Patients with low IL-10 expression (plasma) had longer Progression Free Survival (PFS) (P = 0.009) and EFS (P = 0.027) compared to those with high IL-10 expression. For patients with collected serum samples, non-GCB have shorter PFS (P = 0.027) and EFS (P = 0.03) than GCB patients. The COX proportional hazards regression model results suggest that elevated plasma IL-10 levels (P = 0.008) and advanced stage (P < 0.001) are risk factors for PFS in B-NHL patients.Conclusion: The expression of IL-6 and IL-10 in the blood can serve as important biomarkers for predicting the prognosis of rituximab in patients with B-NHL.Keywords: IL-6, IL-10, rituximab, B-NHL, prognosis