Interleukin-35 (IL-35) and its Association with Cancer Progression and Poor Prognosis
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Ava Resae,1,*
1. Department of Basic Sciences, School of veterinary medicine, University of Semnan
- Introduction: Interleukin-35 (IL-35) is a newly identified IL-12 family cytokine. It is mainly produced by Treg and Breg cells and plays an important role in immunosuppression and infection and autoimmune disease prevention. IL-35 is composed of Epstein-Barr-induced protein 3 (EBi3) and IL-12α chain (p35) subunits. Its overexpression has been identified in various forms of cancer.
- Methods: In the present review study, we searched articles from PubMed, Google Scholar and ScienceDirect with keywords IL-35, cancer, malignancy and tumor. One hundred and sixty-seven articles were found and 132 of them were removed after reading the title or abstract. Review articles were also excluded. Finally, thirty-five articles were selected for this study under the inclusion criteria.
- Results: Significant increase IL-35 expression in tumor tissue or blood was observed in breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer, leukemia, lymphoma, lung cancer, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, renal cell carcinoma, head and neck cancer, laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and osteosarcoma studies. IL-35 expression levels were higher in plasma and tumor tissue in later stages of cancer or lymphatic metastasis. According to some studies, IL-35 inhibits antitumor T cell responses (mainly Th1 and Th17), protects tumor cells against immune system and promotes tumor development.
- Conclusion: IL-35 is linked to cancer progression and tumorigenesis. Regulating its levels might provide a new potential target for cancer prevention, grading or immunotherapy.
- Keywords: Cancer, IL-35, Tumor, Interleukin-35
