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Chemokine receptor CCR6 expression level and aggressiveness of prostate cancer

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Abstract

Purpose

CCR6 is expressed in various tumors and has been implicated in the process of tumor progression and metastasis. Its chemokine ligand, CCL20, is present in different tissues including lymph nodes, but also the normal prostate. This study was performed to investigate a potential relationship between CCR6 and CCL20 expression and features of human prostate cancer (PCA) at time of primary treatment.

Methods

Immunohistochemistry was used to detect CCR6 and CCL20 expression in archival tissue blocks of 80 PCA cases of various tumor grades and stages. Evaluation was semiquantitatively by visual scoring and quantitatively by digital image analysis (DIA). CCR6 and CCL20 expression was compared with Gleason score, stage, perineural invasion, nodal metastasis, age, and preoperative serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level by univariate and multivariate analyses.

Results

Staining intensity of CCR6 in tumor cells varied considerably, with it being: weak in 21 tumors (26.2%), intermediate in 44 (55.0%), and strong in 15 (18.8%), with 3.6-log differences in DIA measurements. CCL20 expression was absent in eight tumors (10.0%), weak in 41 (51.2%), intermediate in 23 (28.8%), and strong in eight (10.0%). CCR6 and CCL20 expression did not correlate. CCR6 expression was associated with T-category (P < 0.0005), Gleason score (P = 0.003), and lymph node metastasis (P = 0.002).

Conclusions

Expression levels of CCR6 in PCA were associated with clinical and pathologic features of more advanced and aggressive prostate cancer. Thus, CCR6 may directly or indirectly be involved in tumor progression and should be evaluated as novel candidate target molecule for specific treatment interventions.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft through the SFB TR 19, TPB2 to MN. We thank E. Berg and H. Protz for their excellent technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Hematology, Medical Oncology and Transfusion Medicine, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200, Berlin, Germany

    Pirus Ghadjar, Eckhard Thiel, Carmen Scheibenbogen & Ulrich Keilholz

  2. Department of Pathology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200, Berlin, Germany

    Christoph Loddenkemper

  3. Department of Pathology, Royal Liverpool Hospital, University of Liverpool, L69 3GA, Liverpool, England, UK

    Sarah Ellen Coupland

  4. Institute for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Clinical Epidemiology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200, Berlin, Germany

    Andrea Stroux

  5. Department of Cardiology and Pneumonology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200, Berlin, Germany

    Michel Noutsias

  6. Department of Urology, Charité- Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Benjamin Franklin, Hindenburgdamm 30, 12200, Berlin, Germany

    Frank Christoph & Kurt Miller

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  1. Pirus Ghadjar
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  2. Christoph Loddenkemper
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  3. Sarah Ellen Coupland
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  7. Frank Christoph
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  9. Carmen Scheibenbogen
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  10. Ulrich Keilholz
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Correspondence to Pirus Ghadjar.

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Ghadjar, P., Loddenkemper, C., Coupland, S.E. et al. Chemokine receptor CCR6 expression level and aggressiveness of prostate cancer. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 134, 1181–1189 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-008-0403-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00432-008-0403-5

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