The role of interleukins and immunological parameters in patients with colon cancer: an optical insight.
9 affiliations
- 1Department of Biology, College of Science, Tikrit University, Tikrit, Saladin, Iraq.
- 2Department of Chemistry, College of Science, Tikrit University, Tikrit, Saladin, Iraq.
- 3Department of Anesthesia Techniques, Al-Hadara University College, Tikrit, Iraq.
- 4Department of Applied Chemistry, College of Applied Sciences, University of Samarra, Samarra, Iraq.
- 5Department of Physics, Lahore Garrison University, Sector C, DHA Phase 6, Lahore, Pakistan.
- 6Biophotonics Imaging Techniques Laboratory, Institute of Physics, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan.
- 7Department of General Medicine and Clinical Disciplines, Nakhchivan State University, Nakhichivan, Azerbaijan.
- 8Biological Sciences Department, College of Science, King Faisal University, Al Hufūf, 31982, Saudi Arabia. [email protected].
- 9Biophotonics Imaging Techniques Laboratory, Institute of Physics, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Bahawalpur, 63100, Pakistan. [email protected].
Abstract
The progression of colon cancer from benign adenoma to malignant tumors that invade and spread underscores the critical need for accurate and less invasive biomarkers. The primary objective of this work was to assess the diagnostic potential of combining immunological biomarkers and optical polarimetric characteristics in colorectal cancer. We specifically aimed to evaluate serum cytokine profiles as potential diagnostic tools and to explore tissue optical signatures in a preliminary analysis. Secondary objectives included examining postoperative immune changes and exploring the involvement of immune checkpoints in cancer progression. Serum levels of IL-8, IL-17 A, IL-37, CTLA-4, and CCR7 were measured using ELISA in 75 colon cancer patients (37 preoperative and 38 postoperative) and 15 healthy controls, whereas tissue properties were analyzed through Mueller matrix polarimetry. Compared with healthy controls, preoperative patients had significantly higher levels of IL-8, IL-17 A, CTLA-4, and CCR7 and lower levels of IL-37 (all P < 0.001), and all five markers discriminated preoperative patients from controls in ROC analysis (AUC 0.939-1.000). Postoperative patients showed intermediate levels, consistent with partial normalization of these markers after surgery. In a preliminary polarimetric analysis of a limited number of tissue sections, cancerous tissue showed higher total depolarization than normal tissue, whereas total retardance and diattenuation varied widely and overlapped between the two tissue types. These findings support serum cytokine and immune-checkpoint profiling as a promising, less invasive approach for colorectal cancer detection and monitoring, whereas the diagnostic value of Mueller matrix polarimetry needs to be confirmed in a larger number of tissue samples with formal statistical evaluation.
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BibTeX
@article{alzobaie2026role,
title = {{The role of interleukins and immunological parameters in patients with colon cancer: an optical insight.}},
author = {Abdullah Mohammed Mahdi Al-Zobaie and Firas Shawqi Algburi and Zaid Mohammed Mubarak Almahdawi and Yasameen H Jasim and Farzana Siddique and Munir Akhtar and Elmar Rzayev and Zainab H Almansour and Hafeez Ullah},
journal = {Lasers in medical science},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1007/s10103-026-05063-4},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42911269},
note = {CC BY-NC-ND},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - The role of interleukins and immunological parameters in patients with colon cancer: an optical insight.
AU - Abdullah Mohammed Mahdi Al-Zobaie
AU - Firas Shawqi Algburi
AU - Zaid Mohammed Mubarak Almahdawi
AU - Yasameen H Jasim
AU - Farzana Siddique
AU - Munir Akhtar
AU - Elmar Rzayev
AU - Zainab H Almansour
AU - Hafeez Ullah
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/22
JO - Lasers in medical science
DO - 10.1007/s10103-026-05063-4
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42911269
AB - The progression of colon cancer from benign adenoma to malignant tumors that invade and spread underscores the critical need for accurate and less invasive biomarkers. The primary objective of this work was to assess the diagnostic potential of combining immunological biomarkers and optical polarimetric characteristics in colorectal cancer. We specifically aimed to evaluate serum cytokine profiles as potential diagnostic tools and to explore tissue optical signatures in a preliminary analysis. Secondary objectives included examining postoperative immune changes and exploring the involvement of immune checkpoints in cancer progression. Serum levels of IL-8, IL-17 A, IL-37, CTLA-4, and CCR7 were measured using ELISA in 75 colon cancer patients (37 preoperative and 38 postoperative) and 15 healthy controls, whereas tissue properties were analyzed through Mueller matrix polarimetry. Compared with healthy controls, preoperative patients had significantly higher levels of IL-8, IL-17 A, CTLA-4, and CCR7 and lower levels of IL-37 (all P < 0.001), and all five markers discriminated preoperative patients from controls in ROC analysis (AUC 0.939-1.000). Postoperative patients showed intermediate levels, consistent with partial normalization of these markers after surgery. In a preliminary polarimetric analysis of a limited number of tissue sections, cancerous tissue showed higher total depolarization than normal tissue, whereas total retardance and diattenuation varied widely and overlapped between the two tissue types. These findings support serum cytokine and immune-checkpoint profiling as a promising, less invasive approach for colorectal cancer detection and monitoring, whereas the diagnostic value of Mueller matrix polarimetry needs to be confirmed in a larger number of tissue samples with formal statistical evaluation.
SN - 0268-8921
SN - 1435-604X
ER -