Abstract PR002: Cytokines surge in the blood years prior to a cancer diagnosis in elderly individuals

Abstract How the human immune system reacts prior to a cancer diagnosis is largely unknown. Here we analyze a longitudinal cohort of 133 healthy individuals (18 to over 90 years old), 28 of whom developed cancers over nine years. We find the global abundance of a broad spectrum of cytokines (26 out of 32 assayed) surges 2-3 years before cancer diagnosis but not with other conditions (such as inflammatory or cardiovascular diseases). These cytokine surges precede cancer diagnosis only in those 80 years or older, suggesting age-specific inflammatory effects. Meanwhile, in early-stage (but not late-stage) tissues across 10 cancer types, aging elevates cytokine transcriptional activity, which coincides with an age-dependent expansion of the inflammatory macrophage population. We further find that macrophage is a major producer of cytokines in cancer tissues, irrespective of cancer types. These results suggest that cancer associated macrophage is a major source of peripheral inflammatory molecules and may mobilize immunity well before a clinical diagnosis in the elderly. Citation Format: Guangbo Chen, Hong Zheng, Yael Rosenberg-Hasson, Saron Araya, Cindy Padilla, Kavita Sarin, Cornelia L. Dekker, Philip Grant, Holden T. Maecker, David Furman, Shai Shen-Orr, Purvesh Khatri, Mark M. Davis. Cytokines surge in the blood years prior to a cancer diagnosis in elderly individuals [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Aging and Cancer; 2022 Nov 17-20; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2022;83(2 Suppl_1):Abstract nr PR002.