Interleukin-6 is increased in breath condensate of patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Despite recent advances in the diagnosis and treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), most patients still present with advanced stage disease at the time of diagnosis. Recent studies suggest that IL-6 is involved in the development of lung cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the measurement of IL-6 levels in the breath condensate of NSCLC patients could be used to bring forward the moment of diagnosis and to monitor the progression of the disease. Twenty patients with histological evidence of NSCLC (14 men and 6 women, age 63+/-8 years) and 15 healthy controls (8 men and 7 women, age 45+/-6 years) were enrolled in the study. IL6 was measured in the exhaled breath condensate of patients and controls by means of a specific enzyme immunoassay kit. Higher concentrations of exhaled IL-6 were found in NSCLC patients (9.6+/-0.3 pg/mL) than in controls (3.5+/-0.2 pg/mL). A statistically significant difference was observed between patients with NSCLC at different stages: higher concentrations of IL-6 (10.9+/-0.5 pg/mL) were found in patients with metastatic disease than in those with stage III (9.7+/-0.4 pg/mL), stage II (8.9+/-0.3 pg/mL) and stage I disease (7.9+/-0.3 pg/mL). These findings suggest that the measurement of IL-6 in the breath condensate of patients with NSCLC could be proposed as a parameter to take into account in early diagnosis and disease monitoring.