Background
Chemokines and their receptors are known to play important roles in the tumorigenesis of many malignancies. The
Conclusions
High levels of CXCR4, CXCR7 and SDF-1 were associated with poor overall survival and recurrence-free survival in renal cell carcinoma patients. CXCR4, CXCR7 and SDF-1 may serve as useful prognostic markers and therapeutic targets for renal cell carcinoma.
Methods
The expression of CXCR4, CXCR7 and SDF-1 in specimens from 97 renal cell carcinoma patients was evaluated by immunohistochemistry on a tissue microarray. These
Results
CXCR4 and CXCR7 were expressed in all patients, whereas SDF-1 was expressed in 61 patients (62.9%). No association was observed between the expression of CXCR4, CXCR7 or SDF-1 and the clinical or pathological data except between SDF-1 expression and Fuhrman's grade (P = 0.015). Patients with high expression of CXCR4, CXCR7 and SDF-1 had shorter overall survival and recurrence-free survival than those with low expression. In a multivariate analysis, the high expression of CXCR4, CXCR7 and SDF-1 correlated with poor overall survival and recurrence-free survival independent of gender, age, AJCC stage, lymph node status, metastasis, histologic variant and Fuhrman's grade. Conclusions: High levels of CXCR4, CXCR7 and SDF-1 were associated with poor overall survival and recurrence-free survival in renal cell carcinoma patients. CXCR4, CXCR7 and SDF-1 may serve as useful prognostic markers and therapeutic targets for renal cell carcinoma.