title: Prognostic value of CXCL12 and CXCR4 in inoperable head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The chemokine CXCL12 and its receptor CXCR4 can affect tumor growth, recurrence, and metastasis. We tested the hypothesis that the CXCL12 and CXCR4 expression influences the prognosis of patients with inoperable head and neck cancer treated with definite radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded pretreatment tumor tissue from 233 patients with known HPV/p16(INK4A) status was analyzed. CXCL12 and CXCR4 expressions were correlated with pretreatment parameters and survival data by univariate and multivariate Cox regression.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CXCL12 was expressed in 43.3 % and CXCR4 in 66.1 % of the samples and both were correlated with HPV/p16(INK4A) positivity. A high CXCL12 expression was associated with increased overall survival (p = 0.036), while a high CXCR4 expression was associated with decreased metastasis-free survival (p = 0.034).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high CXCR4 expression could be regarded as a negative prognostic factor in head and neck cancer because it may foster metastatic spread. This may recommend CXCR4 as therapeutic target for combating head and neck cancer metastasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Margret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rave-Fränk
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Narges
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tehrany
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37099, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kitz
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leu
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Hanne Elisabeth
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Genetics, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37099, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Burfeind
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37099, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schliephake
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37099, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Canis
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Statistics, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37099, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Beissbarth
authors.affiliation: Institute for Cellular and Molecular Immunology, University Medical Center Göttingen, 37099, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Holger Michael
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Reichardt
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Radiation Oncology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Robert-Koch-Str. 40, 37075, Göttingen, Germany. hendrik.wolff@med.uni-goettingen.de.
authors.forename: Hendrik Andreas
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Wolff
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D054377:Chemokine CXCL12 / Q000235:genetics*; D059248:Chemoradiotherapy; D015331:Cohort Studies; D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16 / Q000235:genetics; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010039:Otorhinolaryngologic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D011379:Prognosis; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4 / Q000235:genetics*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: C515255:CXCL12 protein, human; C527276:CXCR4 protein, human; D054377:Chemokine CXCL12; D019941:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4
keywords: Chemokines; Head and neck cancer; Prognosis; Radio(chemo)therapy; Squamous cell cancer