High expression of IL-17 and IL-17RE associate with poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Background: hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc) is a typical malignancy in a background of chronic inflammation. th17 cells (a major source of il-17) constitute crucial components of infiltrating inflammatory/immune cells in hcc and can amplify inflammatory response via binding to interleukin-17 receptor (il-17r). thus,we investigated the expression and clinical significance of il-17 and il-17 receptor family cytokines in hcc. methods. the expression and prognostic value of il-17 and il-17r (a-e) were examined in 300 hcc patients after resection. six th17 associated cytokines in serum (n = 111) were quantified using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. phenotypic features of il-17+ cd4+ t cells were determined by flow cytometry analysis. results: high expression of intratumoral il-17 and il1-7re were significantly associated with poorer survival (p = 0.016 and <0.001,respectively) and increased recurrence (both p < 0.001) of hcc patients. moreover,intratumoral il-17,individually or synergistically with il-17re,could predict hcc early recurrence and late recurrence. also,peritumoral il-17re showed the prognostic ability in hcc (p < 0.001 for os/ttr). furthermore,expression levels of th17 associated cytokines including il-6,-22,-17r and tnf-α were increased in serum of hcc patients compared to haemangioma patients. importantly,activated human hepatic stellate cells induced in vitro expansion of il-17+ cd4+ t cells. conclusions: high expression of il-17 and il-17re were promising predictors for poor outcome of hcc patients. the protumor power of il-17 producing cd4 + t cells was probably involved in the crosstalk with different types of inflammatory/immune cells in hcc. © 2013 liao et al.; licensee biomed central ltd.