Serum cytokine analyses
TUMOR NECROSIS
A commercially available cytokine panel (Bio-Rad, Sundbyberg, Sweden) was used to assess cytokine levels in serum including; Basic FGF (basic fibroblast growth factor), Eotaxin, GCSF (granulocyte colony‐stimulating factor), IFNγ (interferon gamma), Interleukin (IL): IL1β (interleukin 1 beta), IL1ra (receptor antagonist), IL4, IL5, IL6, IL7, IL8, IL9, IL10, IL12p70 (active heterodimer), IL13, IL17A, IP10 (interferon‐inducible protein‐10), MCP1 (monocyte chemo‐attractant protein‐1), MIP1α (macrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha), MIP1β (macrophage inflammatory protein 1 beta), PDGF‐BB (platelet‐derived growth factor subunit B), TNFα (tumor necrosis factor alpha), and VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) were assayed with the Luminex MagPix multi analyte technology (Luminex, Austin, TX, USA). The manufacturer’s instructions were followed. The researcher who performed the cytokine analysis was unaware of clinical data, and followed the instructions as provided by the manufacturer and laboratory guidelines. A high level of agreement between measurements were identified following replicated readings for a subset of samples demonstrating (intra‐class correlation (ICC) varying between 0.95 and 1.0 (