Expression of chemokine CXCL8/9/10/11/13 and its prognostic significance in head and neck cancer

Background: Head and neck cancer (HNC) is a very popular cancer, with many primary sites and pathological types, at the top of the list of tumors. Chemokines are a class of small molecular basic proteins, whose N-terminal cysteine residues can be divided into four subunits by location and number, which significantly enhances the expression level in all kinds of cancers. However, in HNC, especially in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, the chemokine CXCL8/9/10/11/13 has not been clearly explored for its diagnosis and prognosis. Methods: The ONCOMINE database was used to analyze the expression of chemokine family in various cancers. After CXCL8/9/10/11/13 was screened out, the expression of CXCL 8/9/11/13 in patients with HNC/normal people were analyzed by UALCAN database. The expression and pathological stages of CXCL 8/9/10/13 in HNC tissues were analyzed by the GEPIA database, and the relationship between its mRNA expression and the overall survival (OS) time of patients with HNC was analyzed by Kaplan–Meier plotter database. In addition, 171 co-expressed genes significantly related to CXCL8/9/10/11/13 mutation were screened by online tool cBioPortal, and the protein interaction network of these genes was constructed by STRING database. Finally, the potential functions of CXCL8/9/10/11/13 and its 171 co-expressed genes were explored by the enrichment and analysis function of David database. Results: Transcriptional expression of chemokine 8/9/10/11/13 was significantly increased in patients with HNC. Clinical stage of patients with HNC was significantly correlated with overexpression of CXCL9/10/11. In addition, the chemokine CXCL8/9/10/13 was significantly correlated with over-survival of patients with HNC, so it could be distinguished between short-term and long-term survival of patients with HNC. In conclusion, CXCL8/9/10/11/13 closely connected with the expression and prognosis of HNC. Conclusion: In this study, our results suggest that chemokine CXCL8/9/10/11/13 may play a critical role in the development of HNC, and, according to relevant data, it may affect the survival and prognosis of patients with HNC.