Li Xuelu, Sun Siwen, Li Ning, Gao Jiyue, Yu Jing, Zhao Jinbo, Li Man, Zhao Zuowei
Department of Oncology & Department of Breast Surgery, The Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China.
Department of Foreign Language, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, China.
Cell Physiol Biochem. 2017;43(2):531-539. doi: 10.1159/000480526. Epub 2017 Sep 20.
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Previous preclinical and clinical studies have reported a positive correlation between the expression of the C-C chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) and the incidence of lymph node metastasis in breast cancer. However, the prognostic relevance of CCR7 expression in breast cancer remains contradictory till now. The aim of this study is to assess the correlation of the CCR7 expression with other clinicopathological features and prognosis in breast cancer.
The CCR7 gene amplification and mRNA expression levels from approximately 3,000 patients were retrieved from human breast cancer databases and analyzed. Furthermore, a total of 188 primary triple negative breast cancer patients were enrolled in this study (diagnosed since January 2009 to January 2013 from the Second Hospital of Dalian Medical University). The protein levels of CCR7 were examined by immunohistochemistry using paraffin-embedded tumor tissues.
The analysis of gene amplification and mRNA levels showed the expression of CCR7 in breast cancer correlated with better prognosis. When we compared the CCR7 expressions in different subtypes, the basal-like group showed the highest expression of CCR7 and exhibited a better prognosis. Consistently, Kaplan-Meier analysis of 188 triple negative breast cancer patients showed that the prognosis of patients with positive CCR7 expression was significantly better than those with negative expression (HR=0.642, p=0.0275). Additionally, we also observed a positive correlation between lymph node metastasis and the CCR7 expression (p=0.0096).
Our results indicated that elevated CCR7 expression as a marker for increased lymph node metastasis, in addition to serve as an independent prognostic indicator for better overall survival in triple negative breast cancer patients.
背景/目的：先前的临床前和临床研究报告称，C-C趋化因子受体7（CCR7）的表达与乳腺癌淋巴结转移发生率之间存在正相关。然而，迄今为止，CCR7表达在乳腺癌中的预后相关性仍存在矛盾。本研究的目的是评估CCR7表达与乳腺癌其他临床病理特征及预后的相关性。
从人类乳腺癌数据库中检索并分析了约3000例患者的CCR7基因扩增和mRNA表达水平。此外，本研究共纳入了188例原发性三阴性乳腺癌患者（2009年1月至2013年1月在大连医科大学附属第二医院确诊）。使用石蜡包埋的肿瘤组织通过免疫组织化学检测CCR7的蛋白水平。
基因扩增和mRNA水平分析显示，乳腺癌中CCR7的表达与较好的预后相关。当我们比较不同亚型中的CCR7表达时，基底样组显示CCR7表达最高，且预后较好。同样，对188例三阴性乳腺癌患者的Kaplan-Meier分析表明，CCR7表达阳性患者的预后明显优于阴性患者（HR=0.642，p=0.0275）。此外，我们还观察到淋巴结转移与CCR7表达之间存在正相关（p=0.0096）。
我们的结果表明，CCR7表达升高除了可作为三阴性乳腺癌患者总生存期更好的独立预后指标外，还可作为淋巴结转移增加的标志物。
