Expression of chemokine receptor CXCR4 and CCR7 in oral squamous cell carcinoma and their relation to clinicopathological characteristics

Objective To examine the expression of CXCR4 and CCR7 in oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC),and to evaluate the relationship between their expression and the clinicopathology factors,as well as lymph node metastasis of OSCC.Methods The expression of CXCR4 and CCR7 in 64 cases of primary tumor tissues of OSCC、39 cases of regional lymph nodes metastasis and 10 cases of normal oral mucous tissue were examined by immunohistochemical technique and RT-PCR.and their relation to cliniopathological parameters was also analyzed.Results In cells of OSCC,positive expression rates of CXCR4 and CCR7 protein were 62.5% and 65.6%,respectively,and both were significantly higher than those in normal oral mucous tissue(P0.01).The positive expression rates of CXCR4 and CCR7 in cases with lymph node metastasis were 74.36% and 84.62%,respectively,but those in cases without lymph node metastasis were 44% and 36%,respectively.The difference had statistical significance(P0.05).In regional metastasized lymph nodes,positive expression rates of CXCR4 and CCR7 were not significantly different(P0.05).RT-PCR also confirmed the presence of positive CXCR4 and CCR7 expression in OSCC.Moreover,CXCR4 and CCR7 expression was correlated with tumor histological type(P0.05),depth of tumor invasion(P0.05),and TNM stage(P0.01),but not with age at surgery,gender,and tumor size.Conclusions CXCR4 and CCR7 expression was correlated with the diverse progression of OSCC,including invasion and lymph node metastasis.CXCR4 or CCR7 may become a potential therapeutic target in advanced cases of OSCC.