Health behaviors predict higher interleukin-6 levels among patients newly diagnosed with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Health behaviors have been shown to be associated with recurrence risk and survival rates in patients with cancer and are also associated with interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels, but few epidemiologic studies have investigated the relationship of health behaviors and IL-6 among cancer populations. The purpose of the study is to look at the relationship between five health behaviors, viz.: smoking, alcohol problems, body mass index (BMI; a marker of nutritional status), physical activity, and sleep and pretreatment IL-6 levels in persons with head and neck cancer. Methods: Patients (N 409) were recruited in otolaryngology clinic waiting rooms and invited to complete written surveys. A medical record audit was also conducted. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analyses were conducted to determine which health behaviors were associated with higher IL-6 levels controlling for demographic and clinical variables among patients with newly diagnosed head and neck cancer. Results: While smoking, alcohol problems, BMI, physical activity, and sleep were associated with IL-6 levels in bivariate analysis, only smoking (current and former) and decreased sleep were independent predictors of higher IL-6 levels in multivariate regression analysis. Covariates associated with higher IL-6 levels were age and higher tumor stage, whereas comorbidities were marginally significant. Conclusion: Health behaviors, particularly smoking and sleep disturbances, are associated with higher IL-6 levels among patients with head and neck cancer. Impact: Treating health behavior problems, especially smoking and sleep disturbances, may be beneficial to decreasing IL-6 levels, which could have a beneficial effect on overall cancer treatment outcomes. © 2013 American Association for Cancer Research.