Expression of cytokine genes in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of patients undergoing postmastectomy radiotherapy

Aim. Analysis of the expression of genes encoding IL-1 alpha , IL-1 beta , IL-2, IL-5, IL-10, INF gamma , and TNF alpha cytokines in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients undergoing postmastectomy radiotherapy. Methods. Freshly isolated PBMC collected from fifteen patients before, during, and at the end of irradiation treatment were studied by a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results. IL-1 alpha , IL-2, IL-5, and INF gamma gene transcripts were rarely or never detectable, whereas IL-10 expression was often observed in the pre-treatment samples. Most importantly, TNF alpha transcripts were detected in over 45% of the patients after irradiation treatment. In 20% of the patients co-expression of both TNF alpha and IL-1 beta genes were observed. Conclusion. These data, obtained by taking advantage of a sensitive technique closely reflecting in vivo events, suggest that systemic monocyte activation could take place in therapeutically irradiated patients.