Autocrine production of interleukin 6 causes multidrug resistance in breast cancer cells - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2001 Dec 15;61(24):8851-8.

Affiliations

Autocrine production of interleukin 6 causes multidrug resistance in breast cancer cells

D Conze et al. Cancer Res. 2001.

Abstract

It has been shown that serum levels of interleukin (IL)-6 are elevated in patients with various types of cancer. However, the exact source of IL-6 in these patients and its role in tumor progression remain unclear. Here we demonstrate that the autocrine production of IL-6 by tumor cells promotes resistance of the cells to chemotherapy, a novel function of IL-6 in cancer biology. Breast cancer cells that are sensitive to drug treatment do not express IL-6, whereas high levels of IL-6 are produced by multidrug-resistant breast cancer cells. Expression of the IL-6 gene in drug-sensitive breast cancer cells increases their resistance to drug treatment by activating the CCAAT enhancer-binding protein family of transcription factors and inducing mdr1 gene expression. Thus, the autocrine production of IL-6 by tumor cells is an important factor in determining the susceptibility or resistance of these cells to drug treatment. Because tumors from some breast cancer patients contain IL-6-producing cells, it is possible that IL-6 could potentially be used as a prognostic factor for chemotherapy resistance.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

Cited by

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances

LinkOut - more resources