title: The chemokine, CXCL12, is an independent predictor of poor survival in ovarian cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The chemokine CXCL12 and its cognate receptor, CXCR4, have been implicated in numerous tumour types where expression promotes tumour growth, angiogenesis, metastasis and suppresses tumour immunity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a tissue microarray of 289 primary ovarian cancers coupled to a comprehensive database of clinicopathological variables, the expression of CXCL12 and CXCR4 was assessed by immunohistochemistry and its impact in terms of survival and clinicopathological variables was determined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients whose tumours expressed high levels of CXCL12 had significantly poorer survival (P=0.026) than patients whose tumours failed to produce this chemokine. Lack of CXCL12 expression within tumours was associated with a 51-month survival advantage for patients when compared with patients whose tumours expressed high levels of CXCL12. FIGO stage, adjuvant chemotherapy and the absence of macroscopic disease after surgery were all shown to predict prognosis independently of each other in this cohort of patients. CXCL12 was independently predictive of prognosis on multivariate analysis (P=0.016). There was no correlation between CXCL12 and any clinicopathological variable.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The chemokine CXCL12 is an independent predictor of poor survival in ovarian cancer. High expression of CXCL12 was seen in only 20% of the tumours, suggesting a role for anti-CXCL12/CXCR4 therapy in the management of these patients.
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Clinical Oncology, Molecular Medical Sciences, City Hospital Campus, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG5 1PB, UK.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Popple
authors.forename: L G
authors.initials: LG
authors.lastname: Durrant
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Spendlove
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rolland
authors.forename: I V
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Scott
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deen
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Ramage
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D054377:Chemokine CXCL12 / Q000378:metabolism*; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4 / Q000378:metabolism; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D054377:Chemokine CXCL12; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4