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Expression of chemokine receptor CXCR4 is closely correlated with clinical outcome in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

The CXC chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) has been reported to be involved in the development and progression of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). However, the role of CXCR4 in clinical outcome and prognosis of NPC patients remains controversial. In the present study, we investigated and reviewed the expression of CXCR4 in NPC tissues and then analyzed the definitive role of CXCR4 in clinical outcome and prognosis. Here, we found that the expression level of CXCR4 was significantly higher in NPC cancer specimens (61/98) than that in paired non-tumor tissues (p < 0.001). Together with our pathological analysis, statistic analysis revealed that CXCR4 expression was indeed closely correlated with UICC stage (p = 0.000), N stage (p = 0.019), and metastasis (p = 0.000). Most importantly, the systematic review combined with our survival and multivariate analysis that revealed high expression of CXCR4 was obviously associated with poor overall survival (OS) (p = 0.000) and progression-free survival (PFS) (p = 0.000) and can act as an independent prognostic factor in NPC patients. In conclusion, this study suggests that CXCR4 is highly activated and expressed in the development of NPC and may be recommended as an indicator in the diagnosis of NPC. Thus, targeting of CXCR4 gene or protein could be used as a potential therapy for NPC.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by Taishan Scholars Program of Shandong Province, China (ts20120505), and Shandong Provincial Natural Science Foundation (ZR2014YL034). We greatly thank other members of our lab for valuable suggestions and writing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of 6th Radiation Oncology, Shandong Cancer Hospital and Institute, No.440, Jiyan Road, Huaiyin District, 250117, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Hengmin Tao, Yumei Wei, Wei Huang & Baosheng Li

  2. School of Medicine and Life Sciences, University of Jinan, Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Hengmin Tao

  3. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Orthopeadics Department, Affiliated Hospital of Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Congan Wang

  4. Accounting Office of Pharmacy Department, The Fourth People Hospital of Jinan, Jinan, Shandong, China

    Kun Yang

  5. Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking University 3rd Hospital, Beijing, 100191, China

    Haitao Liu

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  1. Hengmin Tao
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  2. Yumei Wei
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  3. Congan Wang
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  4. Kun Yang
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  5. Wei Huang
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  7. Baosheng Li
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Correspondence to Baosheng Li.

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Tao, H., Wei, Y., Wang, C. et al. Expression of chemokine receptor CXCR4 is closely correlated with clinical outcome in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Tumor Biol. 37, 6099–6105 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-4464-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-015-4464-1

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