217 CD40L-CO-STIMULATION IMPROVES IMMUNOTHERAPY WITH a-FETOPROTEIN PULSED DENDRITIC CELLS TOWARDS ESTABLISHED ORTHOTOPIC HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA IN VIVO

available kits.DNA samples were typed for SNPs: -1195 G>A of COX-2, -308 G>A of TNF-a, +936 C>T of VEGF-A and -174 G>C of IL-6 genes.RFLP-PCR method was used to type the SNPs.sIL-6 were dosed with a commercially available ELISA kit.Results: Our data show a statistically significant difference only for the SNP of VEGF-A +936 C>T between HCC and LC patients (P = 0.039).sIL-6 were higher in G/G compared to C/C genotypes in HCC (z = 2; P = 0.04) and G/G vs G/C (z = 1.8;P < 0.03).sIL-6 in G carriers (G/G + G/C) were higher in HCC 4.8 (0.2-17.5) vs LC patients 2.2 (0.07-11.5) (z = 2.8; P = 0.004).sIL-6 in HCC correlated with G carriers (G/G + G/C) (r = 0.25, P = 0.05).A positive correlation was found between sIL-6 levels and some liver function tests both in LC and in HCC.Conclusions: Our results show that C allele carriers in VEGF-A gene are more frequent in HCC vs LC, and confirm the association between the G carriers in IL-6 gene and higher sIL-6, suggesting that these genetic factors could contribute to the development of HCC.