Güneş G, Fırat Oğuz E, Kayılıoğlu I, Dinç T. Diagnostic value of interleukin-8 in colon cancer: Prospective, case-control study. World J Gastrointest Surg 2026; 18(1): 115444 [DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i1.115444]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ilgaz Kayılıoğlu, MD, Associate Professor, Department of General Surgery, Izan Private Health Hospital, Ahmetçavuş-Hayıtlı Mah. Atatürk Bul. No. 21, Milas, Muğla 48200, Türkiye. kayilioglu@yahoo.com
Research Domain of This Article
Surgery
Article-Type of This Article
Prospective Study
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Jan 27, 2026 (publication date) through Jan 28, 2026
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Journal Information of This Article
Publication Name
World Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery
ISSN
1948-9366
Publisher of This Article
Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Güneş G, Fırat Oğuz E, Kayılıoğlu I, Dinç T. Diagnostic value of interleukin-8 in colon cancer: Prospective, case-control study. World J Gastrointest Surg 2026; 18(1): 115444 [DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v18.i1.115444]
Gizem Güneş, Department of General Surgery, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
Esra Fırat Oğuz, Department of Biochemistry, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
Ilgaz Kayılıoğlu, Department of General Surgery, Izan Private Health Hospital, Muğla 48200, Türkiye
Tolga Dinç, Department of General Surgery, University of Health Sciences, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
Author contributions: Güneş G and Dinç T contributed to conceptualization and design; Güneş G, Fırat Oğuz E, Kayılıoğlu I and Dinç T contributed to material preparation, data acquisition, and analysis; all authors contributed to writing-draft manuscript and writing-revision and approved to submit the final version.
Supported by the University of Health Sciences, No. 2021/144.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Ethics Review Board of University of Health Sciences (No. E1-21-1845).
Clinical trial registration statement: This study was a prospective observational investigation and was not registered as a clinical trial because it did not involve any therapeutic intervention or randomization.
Informed consent statement: All the individuals who participated in this study provided.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ilgaz Kayılıoğlu, MD, Associate Professor, Department of General Surgery, Izan Private Health Hospital, Ahmetçavuş-Hayıtlı Mah. Atatürk Bul. No. 21, Milas, Muğla 48200, Türkiye. kayilioglu@yahoo.com
Received: October 20, 2025 Revised: November 5, 2025 Accepted: November 21, 2025 Published online: January 27, 2026 Processing time: 97 Days and 2.2 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Interleukin-8 (IL-8), a pro-inflammatory chemokine, is implicated in angiogenesis, tumor growth, and metastasis. However, its diagnostic and prognostic significance in colorectal cancer remains unclear.
AIM
To evaluate the diagnostic utility of serum IL-8 in patients with newly diagnosed colon adenocarcinoma.
METHODS
In this prospective case-control study, 44 treatment-naïve patients with colon adenocarcinoma and 44 age-matched healthy controls were enrolled. Preoperative serum IL-8 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical analyses included univariate and multivariate models, odds ratios, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.
RESULTS
Serum IL-8 levels were significantly higher in patients than in controls (P = 0.005). ROC curve analysis yielded an area under the curve of 0.68, with both sensitivity and specificity of 63.6% at a cut-off value of 42.3 ng/L. Multivariate analysis confirmed IL-8 as an independent predictor (odds ratio = 1.050), with each 1 ng/L increase conferring a 5% higher risk. No significant associations were observed with tumor stage, location, or histopathological features.
CONCLUSION
IL-8 may serve as a diagnostic biomarker in colon adenocarcinoma, and its potential prognostic role warrants validation in larger, multicenter cohorts.
Core Tip: This prospective study demonstrates that serum interleukin-8 (IL-8) levels were significantly elevated in colon adenocarcinoma patients. Although diagnostic accuracy was moderate (area under the curve = 0.68), IL-8 remained an independent predictor. Prior evidence links IL-8 to survival and treatment response, suggesting diagnostic and prognostic utility. Larger multicenter studies are warranted to confirm and explore therapeutic implications.
