Influence of 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid on interleukin-18 production in colorectal cancer patients

Aims and background: This study was carried out to evaluate the IL-18 blood concentrations of operated colorectal cancer patients and their possible variation in response to combination chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and folinic acid. Methods: IL-18 levels were assayed in sera of 18 healthy donors and 18 surgical colorectal cancer patients before and after adjuvant chemotherapy with 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid. An ELISA kit for human IL-18 was used for the assay. Results: Colorectal cancer patients showed significantly higher baseline levels of IL-18 than healthy donors (p<0.005). Furthermore, serum IL-18 levels increased significantly with respect to baseline in patients receiving adjuvant chemotherapy (p<0.005). Conclusions: This study suggests that treatment with 5-fluorouracil and folinic acid may provoke an increase in IL-18 serum levels in colorectal cancer patients. This increase may help to explain the efficacy of adjuvant chemotherapy with 5-FU in colorectal cancer.