Blood serum cytokine status in ovarian cancer patients with different levels of circulating tumor cells

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are essential for hematogenous metastasis. In 2003, it was found out that such cells were present in the blood of patients diagnosed with ovarian cancer (OC). It is known that inflammation plays an important role in tumor progression. There are CSCs with a large number of components in the blood, e.g. cytokines that can modulate the metastatic potential of a tumor cell. The aim of the study is to assess the blood serum cytokine status in ovarian cancer patients with different levels of circulating tumor cells. Materials and Methods. Untreated primary patients (n=24) with histologically or cytologically verified ovarian cancer, stage II-IV according to FIGO classification, were the trial subjects. Flow cytometry was used to detect the number of circulating tumor cells in the blood from the patients; the authors also determined IL-6, IL-17A, IL-1ft, TGF-a, IL-4, VEGF, TNF-a, HGF, IL-18, IL-10, IL-8 levels. The results were processed using the Statistica Windows software package...