ROLE OF INTERLEUKIN-8 IN ONSET OF THE IMMUNE-RESPONSE IN INTRAVESICALBCG THERAPY FOR SUPERFICIAL BLADDER-CANCER

In intravesical therapy for superficial bladder carcinoma urothelial c ells may, through the production of cytokines, contribute to the bacil lus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-induced local immunological reaction and ass ociated antitumor efficacy. The aim of this study was to investigate s uch a role for the neutrophil-attracting cytokine interleukin-8 (IL-8) . The appearance of IL-8 in patients' urine after BCG therapy was comp ared with BCG-induced IL-6 and IL-2 and the stability of IL-8 in urine was tested. Compared to IL-6 and IL-2, a rapid induction of IL-8 was observed, occurring after the first BCG instillation. Urinary IL-8 was highly stable, even after 24 h incubation at 37 degrees C. The IL-8 c oncentration after the first instillation seemed to be associated with subsequent development of an immune response. Consequently, IL-8 seem s an attractive candidate for investigation of its prognostic value fo r a clinical response to BCG therapy.