Research Article

The role of interleukin-19 in lung, colon and prostate cancer as a biomarker of metastasis

Abstract

Background: IL-19, a pro-inflammatory cytokine from IL-10 family, stimulates tumor proliferation, invasion and immune-evasion by activating IL-20R complex and induction of STAT3 signaling pathway. The levels of IL-19 in circulation in various solid cancers and correlation of these levels with metastasis and sensitivity to cytotoxic treatments have not been studied yet. We have attempted to evaluate serum IL-19 concentration in patients with lung, colorectal, and prostate cancer at different clinical stages, and its possible role in metastasis and response to treatment. Methods: Venous blood serum samples were obtained from 34 patients with clinically diagnosed lung (n=11), colorectal (n=11), or prostate cancer (n=12) at different clinical stages I – IV, and 6 healthy individuals of similar age. The IL-19 concentration in serum was quantified in duplicates via Quantitative Sandwich Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) with four-parameter logistic (4-PL) curve fitting. Differences between groups in the distribution of IL-19 levels among different clinical stages, metastases, and systemic chemotherapy treatments were analyzed via non-parametric Mann Whitney U test and Kruskal Wallis test, respectively, with Holm-adjusted pairwise post-hoc analysis. Results: The serum IL-19 levels were significantly higher in cancer patients as compared with healthy controls (median 79.8 pg/mL vs. 29.8 pg/mL; p=0.000202). IL-19 levels were significantly different between the three cancer types (p=0.00135), with the maximum in lung cancer (median 108.5 pg/mL), median in colorectal (77.8 pg/mL), and minimum in prostate cancer patients (42.3 pg/mL). There was no significant difference in the levels of IL-19 in separate anatomical clinical stages I – IV (p=0.587). In contrast, there were significant differences in stage IV patients dependent on presence of systemic chemotherapy (p < 0.005): the serum IL-19 levels in the untreated stage IV cancer patients were significantly higher (median 349.16 pg/mL; IQR: 324.74 – 361.53 pg/mL), whereas the IL-19 levels in chemotherapy-treated stage IV cancer patients were significantly lower (median 49.68 pg/mL; IQR: 24.98 – 97.35 pg/mL). Conclusions: The IL-19 is involved in the systemic inflammation associated with cancer and exhibits distinct pattern of expression depending on the type of the tumor, with preferential expression in inflammatory thoracic tumors. Although the increase of IL-19 levels starts at the early stage of tumor development, the significant increase is seen in untreated advanced/metastatic cancers, which is drastically decreased in cytotoxic treatment.

Authors affiliation:

Raheem Abd Zaid AL-Abedi (ORCID): Department of Pathological Analysis, Faculty of Science, University of Kufa, Iraq.

How To Cite: R.A.Z. AL-Abedi. The role of interleukin-19 in lung, colon and prostate cancer as a biomarker of metastasis. Journal of Applied Health Sciences and Medicine, 6(10):45–57, 2026. https://doi.org/10.58614/jahsm6106