Evaluation of CXCR4 chemokine receptor as a prognostic marker in colorectal carcinoma

Introduction Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths, with recurrence and metastasis being the primary reasons for mortality. New evidence has implicated chemokines as the likely cause. In this study, we studied the positive expression of CXCR4 chemokine receptor in colorectal carcinoma and investigated its relation to clinical, pathologic data, and prognosis. Materials and methods Tumor tissue specimens from 54 patients with colorectal carcinoma who underwent radical surgery from January 2006 to January 2008 at the Gastroentrology centre, Mansoura University, Egypt were collected. Paraffin sections of all samples were submitted for immunohistochemistry using CXCR4 chemokine receptor and CD34. The prognostic significance of CXCR4 chemokine receptor were studied as well as the relation to tumor microvessel density. Results In 54 cancer tissue specimens, CXCR4 chemokine receptor was positively expressed in 23 cases (42.6%). Positive expression of CXCR4 chemokine receptor is significantly associated with an increasing incidence of lymphovascular invasion, nodal involvement, higher TNM stage, higher tumor microvessel density, and a lower 2-year disease-free survival rate compared with those with negative CXCR4 chemokine receptor expression ( P <0.05). Conclusion Positive CXCR4 chemokine receptor expression is associated with poor prognosis and could be a potential predictive factor for recurrence or metastasis of colorectal cancer patients. Thus, CXCR4 chemokine receptor may be a potential target for specific therapeutic interventions in the future.