Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40181579›Full record

SynthesisAnnals of medicine2025

Elevated circulating IL-8 correlates with poor prognosis in urological cancers: a meta-analysis and bioinformatic validation.

Yuxuan Lin, Yonghe Liao, Mengfan Huang, Jinhai Shen

Abstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Annals of medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Yuxuan LinDepartment of Pharmacy, Guangxi Hospital Division of The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Nanning, PR China.
Yonghe LiaoCollege of Pharmaceutical Science, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, PR China.
Mengfan HuangState Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, PR China.
Jinhai ShenState Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, PR China.ORCID 0000-0001-8673-087X

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInterleukin-8 (IL-8) is a key cytokine that has been implicated in multiple aspects of cancer progression and therapeutic resistance. Elevated levels of circulating IL-8 (cIL-8) have been implicated in adverse clinical outcomes among patients with urological cancers. However, definitive evidence consolidating these observations remains lacking. The present study aims to synthesize the existing research findings to provide a comprehensive, evidence-based reference for clinical practice.

methodsA systematic literature search was conducted to identify relevant studies that reported on the prognostic impact of cIL-8 levels in urological cancer patients. Hazard ratios (HRs) for overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) were extracted and pooled to estimate the overall effect. Furthermore, Kaplan-Meier's survival analyses were conducted using RNA-seq data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) through the Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2 (GEPIA 2) online tool to validate the observed associations.

resultsA total of 19 cohorts encompassing 2740 patients from 12 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The findings revealed that elevated cIL-8 levels were significantly associated with inferior OS (HR: 1.86; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 1.72-2.02) and PFS (HR: 1.59; 95%CI: 1.25-2.03) in patients with urological cancers. The consistency and validity of these results were further supported by survival analyses performed using the GEPIA 2 tool.

conclusionsThis study, which is the first meta-analysis to systematically examine the prognostic significance of cIL-8 in urological cancers, supported by bioinformatics validation, confirms that elevated cIL-8 levels serve as a potential biomarker for predicting adverse outcomes. Our findings underscore the importance of targeting IL-8 as a therapeutic strategy to overcome treatment resistance and improve outcomes for urological cancer patients. Further research into IL-8-targeted therapies and their integration into clinical practice is urgently needed to enhance the treatment landscape for urological cancers.

Indexed as

Interleukin-8Urologic NeoplasmsBiomarkers, TumorComputational BiologyHumansKaplan-Meier EstimatePrognosisBiomarkers, TumorCXCL8 protein, humanInterleukin-8biomarkerInterleukin-8meta-analysisprognosisurological cancers

Identifiers

PMID40181579
PMCPMC11980208

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.