ArticleCancer management and research2025
Interleukin-6 as a Predictive Marker for Lymph Node and Distant Metastasis in Colorectal Cancer: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
Article in Cancer management and research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cytokines and Chemokines as Emerging Biomarkers and Therapeutic Targets in Colorectal Cancer-Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Causal relationships of inflammatory cytokines and serum metabolites with colorectal carcinoma: A Mendelian randomization study.Zhong nan da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Central South University. Medical sciences · 2026Article
- Expression of serum inflammatory markers in colorectal cancer and their relationship with clinical pathological characteristics.American journal of translational research · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Metastasis is the leading cause of death in colorectal cancer (CRC). While interleukin-6 (IL-6), a key inflammatory cytokine, is implicated in tumor metastasis, its specific association with lymph node metastasis (LNM) and distant metastasis (DM) in CRC remains unclear. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed clinical data and serum levels of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and cytokines (including IL-6) in 427 CRC patients, stratified by metastatic status. Statistical analyses assessed the predictive value of IL-6 for metastasis. Results: Elevated serum IL-6 levels were significantly associated with both LNM and DM (P<0.05). IL-6 positively correlated with CEA levels (Spearman correlation). Although IL-6 alone showed modest predictive power for LNM (AUC=0.555), it outperformed CEA (AUC=0.525). Combining IL-6 and CEA improved diagnostic accuracy for LNM (AUC=0.583). Notably, IL-6 demonstrated greater sensitivity than CEA in predicting DM (77.30% vs 67.40% at optimal cutoff). Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that IL-6 holds significant predictive value for metastasis in CRC, particularly excelling in the prediction of LNM. The detection of IL-6 offers a valuable complementary approach to the existing clinical prediction paradigm for CRC metastasis risk.
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