IL-35 expression is increased in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma and in the peripheral blood of patients.

Interleukin-35 (IL-35) has been proposed as a novel immune-suppressing cytokine. However, the function of IL-35 in malignant diseases is yet to be elucidated. The present study investigated IL-35 expression levels in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) tissues and the peripheral blood of patients to explore the potential involvement of IL-35 in LSCC progression. In the present study, IL-35 expression levels in tissues and peripheral blood were analyzed by reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction and an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The association between IL-35 expression levels and clinical characteristics was also evaluated. The present results demonstrated that IL-35 expression in tumor tissues was significantly higher than in adjacent normal tissues, and a significant association between IL-35 expression levels in tissues and the tumor site was detected. Furthermore, the expression of IL-35 in the peripheral blood of patients was significantly decreased subsequent to tumor resection. No correlation between peripheral blood IL-35 expression and clinical characteristics was detected. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that IL-35 is highly expressed in LSCC tissues and in the peripheral blood of patients with LSCC. There was a notable, significant reduction of peripheral blood IL-35 expression following surgical resection of tumors. These results may be useful for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes in patients with LSCC.