Fig 1.0 shows the percentage age distribution of the participants selected for the study. It was evident from fig 1.0 that majority of the cancer patients that participated in the study were of the age groups 40-49 years and 50-59 years with percentage distribution of 32.3% and 30.6% respectively. While minority of the study group comprised of cancer patients of the age group 10- 19 years with percentage distribution of 1.6%.
Table 1: Percentage distribution of the participants by cancer types
Disease Subtype
|
Frequency
|
Percentage (%)
|
Ameloblastic carcinoma
|
3
|
4.8
|
Brain cancer
|
1
|
1.6
|
Breast cancer
|
30
|
48.4
|
Cervical cancer
|
11
|
17.7
|
Eye cancer
|
1
|
1.6
|
Larynx cancer
|
2
|
3.2
|
Maxillary adenoid carcinoma
|
2
|
3.2
|
Nasopharyngeal cancer
|
2
|
3.2
|
Neck cancer
|
1
|
1.6
|
Non hodgskin lymphoma
|
1
|
1.6
|
Oropharyngeal cancer
|
3
|
4.8
|
Prostate cancer
|
1
|
1.6
|
Rectal cancer
|
1
|
1.6
|
Skin cancer
|
1
|
1.6
|
Tongue cancer
|
2
|
3.2
|
Total
|
62
|
100.0
|
The percentage of different types of cancer patients included in the study was presented in table 1.0. From table 1.0, majority of the participants were breast cancer and cervical cancer patients as it was reflected in their percentage distribution of 48.4 and 17.7% respectively. However, patients with neck cancer, brain cancer, Non hodgskin lymphoma, prostate, Rectal and skin cancer constituted the minority of the participants with percentage distribution of 1.6%.
Fig 3.0 revealed the percentage of the cancer patients in different stages of the disease. The figure showed that higher population of the participants involved in the study were in stage 2 and stage 3 of the disease as it was reflected in their percentage distribution of 35.7 % and 38.1% respectively. However, cancer patients at stage 1 of the disease had the lowest percentage (7.1%) of all the recruited participants.
Table 2: Mean serum Interleukin 6 level of the participants
Participants
|
Mean serum
Interleukin 6 level
|
P value
|
Cancer patients
|
84.15 ± 16. 55*
|
0.016
|
Control
|
61.56 ± 7.144
|
|
values with aesterik indicates significance (P< 0.05) difference in Interleukin-6 concentration
The mean serum interleukin 6 levels of cancer participants and healthy volunteers were revealed in the table 2. As revealed from the table, the mean serum interleukin-6 levels of the cancer patients was significantly (P< 0.05) higher than that of the control.
Table 3: Mean values of Serum Interleukin-6 concentration of the participants of different disease stage
Cancer stage
Group
|
Mean Interleukin 6
Concentration
|
I
|
15.76 ± 10.04a
|
II
|
20.64 ± 5.13ab
|
III
|
45.31± 5.08b
|
IV
|
174.20 ± 46.14c
|
Values with different alphabets superscript indicate significance difference (P< 0.05) in Interleukin-6 concentration.
The serum mean Interleukin-6 concentration of the participants with different stages of cancer is presented in Table 3 above. From the table, the mean interleukin-6 concentration increases with advancing stage of disease. However, stage IV participants (with metastatic disease) have significant (P< 0.05) higher concentration of Interleukin-6 as compared to other stages. In the same way, significant increase in the mean Interleukin-6 concentration of participants with stage III of the disease as compared to that of stage I cancer participants was evident from Table 3.
Table 4: Mean values of Serum Interleukin-6 levels of the participants with different cancer types
Cancer type
|
Serum Interleukin 6
level
|
Breast Cancer
|
24.311 ± 6.33*
|
Cervical Cancer
|
160.53 ± 47.70
|
Prostate Cancer
|
49.53± 6.432
|
Head and Neck Cancer
|
73.60 ± 26.02
|
Others
|
89.53 ± 39.13
|
Value with aesterik indicates significance difference (P< 0.05) in Interleukin-6 level.
Interleukin-6 level in the serum of the participants with different cancer types was revealed in the table 4. From the table, there was a significant decrease (P< 0.05) in the serum interleukin-6 level of breast cancer participants as compared to that of cervical, prostate, head and Neck and others cancer types.
Table 5: Correlation relationship between Interleukin-6 concentrations and cancer stage
Mean serum
Interleukin 6 level
|
Pearson correlation
coefficient
|
P value
|
Interleukin-6 levels
|
1.0
|
0.002*
|
Cancer stage
|
0.466*
|
|
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
From table 5 above, there was a significant correlation (P< 0.01) between Interleukin 6 concentration and cancer age.