VEGF and IL-6 correlation in POEMS: a potential upcoming marker of active disease and early autologous BMT response.

Abstract

Introduction: VEGF function may be responsible for most POEMS manifestations, and it is considered a reliable marker of disease. COVID-19 era arose increasing interest for other inflammatory cytokines, with particular focus on Interleukin-6; VEGF production is stimulated by IL-6 and IL1β, whose concentrations appear to be elevated in clonal plasma cells. Objectives: This study aims to simultaneously evaluate VEGF and IL-6 values in patients (pts) with POEMS at different stages of the disease to find a correlation between them. Methods: We performed a monocentric study, measuring serum levels of VEGF and IL-6 in 8 POEMS pts at different time points of the disease. Results: We observed elevated serum levels of both VEGF and IL-6 in three pts before transplant, while the day after the infusion of autologous stem cells, we observed a steep decrease of both serum markers. Among the four-pts tested only after transplant, two presented with a consensual level of VEGF and IL-6, while the others did not correlate. One patient observed at POEMS diagnosis, during active disease, presented with strikingly high levels of both serum markers. Conclusions: So far, to the best of our knowledge, IL-6 could be considered as a marker of active disease and reliable up to the very first months after BMT, after which its accuracy appears to be lost due to unknown factors, still to be investigated.

Keywords

• POEMS
• IL-6
• VEGF