Review
Interleukin 8 (IL-8) - a universal biomarker?
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* Corresponding author: Aamir Shahzad aamir.shahzad@univie.ac.at
1 Max F. Perutz Laboratories, Department of Structural Biology and Biomolecular Chemistry, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
2 OnkoTec GmbH. Waidhofen/Thaya, Vienna, Austria
3 Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine II, Vienna General Hospital, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
International Archives of Medicine 2010, 3:11 doi:10.1186/1755-7682-3-11
Published: 15 June 2010Abstract
Many clinical conditions including various types of cancers are complex and generally require invasive, laborious, expensive and time-consuming investigations for their diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. There is therefore a general need for exploring non-invasive markers in clinical medicine. Interleukin 8 (IL-8) is currently being applied in various subspecialties of medicine either for the purpose of rapid diagnosis or as a predictor of prognosis. Nevertheless, there is need for large-scale studies to substantiate accuracy and outcome. This article will summarize current evidence suggesting that Interleukin 8 (IL-8) may serve as a useful biomarker.