RESULTS

Prognostic impact of peritumoral IL-17-positive cells and IL-17 axis in patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (Annal. Surg. Oncology, 2015)

In collaboration with the Department of Surgery, Osaka University (Profs. Masaki Mori and Yuichiro Doki), Asukai et al. studied the tumor immunology.  Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the expression of IL-6, IL-17RA, and peritumoral IL-17A significantly correlated with a poor outcome. Further, high preoperative plasma levels of IL-6 in patients with cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) corresponded with significantly shorter disease-free survival (DFS). Our data suggested that IL-6, peritumoral IL-17 +  cells, and IL-17RA expression are postoperative useful markers for predicting recurrence in patients with ICC.