Prognostic significance of soluble interleukin-2 receptor-α in adenocarcinoma of the pancreas

Soluble interleukin-2-receptor-α (sIL-2Rα) serum concentrations were examined in chronic pancreatitis patients, patients with cystadenocarcinoma of the pancreas, patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas and healthy blood donors. sIL-2Rα serum concentrations in pancreatic cancer patients were significantly higher than those of normal control subjects or chronic pancreatitis patients. In patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas no significant differences were found between sIL-2Rα and tumor size, grading, resectability and lymph node involvement. In Kaplan–Meier regression analysis patients with adenocarcinoma of the pancreas with low sIL-2Rα levels (<500 U/ml) lived significantly shorter than patients with sIL-2Rα concentrations above 500 U/ml (P<0.01), suggesting that determination of sIL-2Rα serum concentrations could provide additional important information about prognosis.