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

Interleukin-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. A 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. A 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. This 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.

白细胞介素-8（Interleukin-8, IL-8）是一类关键细胞因子，已被证实参与癌症进展与治疗耐药的多个病理环节。循环白细胞介素-8（circulating IL-8, cIL-8）水平升高与泌尿系统癌症患者的不良临床结局相关，但目前仍缺乏整合上述观察结果的确凿证据。本研究旨在整合现有研究成果，为临床实践提供全面的循证参考。本研究通过系统文献检索，筛选出报道了cIL-8水平对泌尿系统癌症患者预后影响的相关研究。提取总生存期（overall survival, OS）与无进展生存期（progression-free survival, PFS）的风险比（hazard ratios, HRs）并进行合并分析，以估算总体效应量。此外，本研究借助基因表达谱交互分析2（Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2, GEPIA 2）在线工具，利用癌症基因组图谱（The Cancer Genome Atlas, TCGA）的RNA测序数据开展Kaplan-Meier生存分析，以验证上述关联。本荟萃分析共纳入12项研究的19个队列，涉及2740例患者。结果显示，泌尿系统癌症患者的cIL-8水平升高与更差的总生存期（HR=1.86；95%置信区间（confidence intervals, CI）：1.72~2.02）及无进展生存期（HR=1.59；95%CI：1.25~2.03）显著相关。GEPIA 2工具开展的生存分析进一步证实了本研究结果的一致性与可靠性。本研究是首个系统探讨cIL-8在泌尿系统癌症中预后价值的荟萃分析，结合生物信息学验证结果证实，cIL-8水平升高可作为预测不良临床结局的潜在生物标志物。本研究结果凸显了靶向IL-8的治疗策略在克服治疗耐药、改善泌尿系统癌症患者预后中的重要意义。目前亟需开展针对IL-8靶向疗法的相关研究，并将其整合至临床实践中，以优化泌尿系统癌症的治疗格局。