Expression of the CXCR4 and CCR7 chemokine receptors in human endometrial cancer.
OBJECTIVE
The chemokine receptors CXCR4 and CCR7 have been suggested to play an important role in cancer progression but their expression in human endometrial cancer has not been fully characterized. The aim of this study was to investigate CXCR4 and CCR7 expression in endometrial cancers.


METHODS
We immunohistochemically investigated the expression of CXCR4 and CCR7 protein in 166 endometrial cancers and analyzed the correlation with various observed clinicopathological features, including patient outcome. Fresh tumor specimens were obtained from 55 of the 166 endometrial cancer patients, and the expression levels of the CXCR4 and CCR7 genes were also examined in this subgroup.


RESULTS
Our results indicate that CXCR4 and CCR7 transcripts levels are significantly higher in tumors that express the corresponding protein products. CXCR4 and CCR7 protein expression levels were found to be significantly lower in patients with endometrial tumors of a high grade. Consistent with this, the overall survival rates were significantly better in patients exhibiting higher levels of CXCR4 and CCR7 expression.


CONCLUSIONS
We thus hypothesize that CXCR4 and CCR7 protein levels are suppressed in high-grade endometrial tumors, but that the expression of these receptors per se may not be a crucial role in tumor progression or metastasis in these cancers.
Kodama
J
J
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama, Japan.
Hasengaowa
Seki
N
N
Kusumoto
T
T
Hiramatsu
Y
Y
D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D054400:Receptors, CCR7 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016019:Survival Analysis
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D054400:Receptors, CCR7; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4