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Phosphorylated CXCR4 expression has a positive prognostic impact in colorectal cancer

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Abstract

Background

The CXCL12-CXCR4 chemokine axis plays an important role in cell trafficking as well as in tumor progression. In colorectal cancer (CRC), the chemokine receptor CXCR4 has been shown to be an unfavorable prognostic factor in some studies, however, the role of its activated (phosphorylated) form, pCXCR4, has not yet been evaluated. Here, we aimed to investigate the prognostic value of CXCR4 and pCXCR4 in a large cohort of CRC patients.

Patients and methods

A tissue microarray (TMA) of 684 patient specimens of primary CRCs was analyzed by immunohistochemistry (IHC) for the expression of CXCR4 and pCXCR4 by tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs).

Results

The combined high expression of CXCR4 and pCXCR4 showed a favorable 5-year overall survival rate (68%; 95%CI = 59–76%) compared to tumors showing a high expression of CXCR4 only (48%; 95%CI = 41–54%). High expression of pCXCR4 was significantly associated with a favorable prognosis in a test and validation group (p = 0.015 and p = 0.0001). Moreover, we found that CRCs with a high density of pCXCR4+ tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TICs) also showed a favorable prognosis in a test and validation group (p = 0.054 and p = 0.004). Univariate Cox regression analysis for TICs revealed that a high density of pCXCR4+ TICs was a favorable prognostic marker for overall survival (HR = 0.97,95%CI = 0.96–1.00; p = 0.01). In multivariate Cox regression survival analyses a high expression of pCXCR4 in tumor cells lost its association with a better overall survival (HR = 0.99; 95%CI = 0.99–1.00, p = 0.098).

Conclusion

Our results show that high densities of CXCR4 and pCXCR4 positive TICs are favorable prognostic factors in CRC.

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Acknowledgements

GI was supported by SNF (CH) grant no. PP00P3-133699 and GCS was supported by SNF (CH) grant no. 310030_149745.

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Author notes

  1. B. Weixler and F. Renetseder have equally contributed to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    B. Weixler, F. Renetseder, I. Facile, A. Tampakis, T. Delko, C. Kettelhack, S. D. Soysal, Raoul A. Droeser & S. Däster

  2. Institute of Pathology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    N. Tosti, S. Eppenberger-Castori, A. Tzankov, L. Terracciano & L. Tornillo

  3. Department of Biomedicine, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland

    E. Cremonesi, G. Iezzi & G. C. Spagnoli

  4. Goshen Center for Cancer Care, Indiana University School of Medicine South Bend, Goshen, IN, USA

    U. von Holzen

  5. Harper Cancer Research Institute, South Bend, IN, USA

    U. von Holzen

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  1. B. Weixler
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  2. F. Renetseder
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Raoul A. Droeser.

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Weixler, B., Renetseder, F., Facile, I. et al. Phosphorylated CXCR4 expression has a positive prognostic impact in colorectal cancer. Cell Oncol. 40, 609–619 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13402-017-0348-2

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