Author(s)

Folly Mawulolo Gaba¹, Babacar Mbengue^1*, Maimouna Diop¹, Doudou Diouf², Sidy Ka², Doudou Georges Massar Niang¹, Ramatoulaye Ndiaye¹, Ibrahima Mounkeila Seydou², Jean Pascal Demba Diop³, Moustapha Mbow¹, Rokhaya Ndiaye Diallo³, Maguette Sylla Niang¹, Mbacké Sembene⁴, Ahmadou Dem², Alioune Dieye¹

¹Service d’Immunologie, Faculté de Médecine, de Pharmacie et d’Odontologie, Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD) de Dakar, Dakar, Sénégal.
²Service de Cancérologie, Institut Juliot Curie, Hopital Aristide Le Dantec, Dakar, Sénégal.
³Service de Génétique Humaine, Faculté de Médecine, de Pharmacie et d’Odontologie, UCAD, Dakar, Sénégal.
⁴Département de Biologie Animale, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, UCAD, Dakar, Sénégal.

Background and Objectives: Cervical cancer is a leading cause of cancer death in female populations. It is a virally induced carcinoma resulting from sexually transmitted high risk Human Papillomavirus infections (e.g. HPV-16, HPV-18). Previous studies have shown associations between IL-17A levels in cancer micro-environments and metastasis of tumor cells. In Africa, chemotherapy (CT) is the standard first-line treatment for cervical cancer and the prognosis remains poor for metastatic and recurrent cases. The impact of CT as a treatment option is still unclear. We investigated the prognostic relevance of IL-17A profiles in Cervical cancer patients (CP) patients treated with cisplatin in combination with 5-fluouracil (5FU) for three cycles. Methods: The study included 57 CP and 59 women with no history of malignancy as healthy controls (HC). IL-17A plasma levels were evaluated by ELISA. For each CP, three blood samples were collected at three-week intervals before initiation of the chemotherapy protocol. Results: Before chemotherapy CP showed higher serum levels of IL-17A compared to HCs (p = 0.035). No relation was detected between age and IL-17A levels. We observed a significant increase in serum IL-17A during treatment of the CP group (p < 0.05). Depending on chemotherapy’s efficacy, CP were divided into 1) non responders, 2) partial responders and 3) good responders. Non-responders patients showed significantly higher serum levels of IL-17A during the follow-up compared to partial and good responder groups both following the first CT cycle (p < 0.05) and the second CT cycle (p < 0.03). Conclusion: Our results suggest that high serum levels of IL-17A are associated with poor responses to classical chemotherapy. However, considering these results to design CC biomarkers, we need further investigations particularly about the relevant prognostic indicator following chemotherapy.

Cervical Cancer, Chemotherapy, Interleukin 17A

Gaba, F. , Mbengue, B. , Diop, M. , Diouf, D. , Ka, S. , Niang, D. , Ndiaye, R. , Seydou, I. , Diop, J. , Mbow, M. , Diallo, R. , Niang, M. , Sembene, M. , Dem, A. and Dieye, A. (2019) Predictive Significance of IL-17A Serum Levels during Chemotherapy in Senegalese Women with Cervical Cancer. Open Journal of Immunology, 9, 37-47. doi: 10.4236/oji.2019.94004.