title: CXCR4 overexpression correlates with poor prognosis in myasthenia gravis-associated thymoma.
abstract: Thymoma is 1 rare type of tumor developed on the thymic epithelium; patients with thymoma also might have myasthenia gravis (MG). Because of the scarcity and complexity of MG-associated thymoma, its pathogenesis and etiology still remain unclear nowadays. The expression of C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) is absent or low in most healthy tissues but highly expressed in various types of tumors. Here, to determine the prognostic significance of CXCR4 in MG-associated thymoma, a total of 84 tissue samples were retrospectively examined. Our data demonstrated that CXCR4 was strongly associated with worse overall survival (hazard ratio, 2.11; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-4.11) and disease-free survival (hazard ratio, 1.84; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-3.29). Furthermore, both univariate and multivariate analyses confirmed that CXCR4 was an independent factor in predicting unfavorable overall survival. In conclusion, our findings suggest that CXCR4 might contribute to the clinical cancer progression, and CXCR4 could be a valuable prognostic biomarker in the therapy of MG-associated thymoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, China.
authors.forename: Dazhong
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, China.
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, China.
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, China.
authors.forename: Jiaying
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150086, China. Electronic address: doctorlinyouzhang@163.com.
authors.forename: Linyou
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4 / Q000235:genetics*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013945:Thymoma / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D013953:Thymus Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D015854:Up-Regulation; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C527276:CXCR4 protein, human; D019718:Receptors, CXCR4
keywords: CXCR4; Myasthenia gravis; Prognosis; Survival; Thymoma