Clinicopathological significance of chemokine receptor ( CCR CCR 1, CCR CCR 3, CCR CCR 4, CCR CCR 5, CCR CCR 7 and CXCR CXCR 4) expression in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas

摘要

Background Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma shows high prevalence of lymph node metastasis at diagnosis, and despite the advances in treatment, the overall 5‐year survival is still under 50%. Chemokine receptors have a role in the development and progression of cancer, but their effect in head and neck carcinoma remains poorly characterised. This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of CCR 1, CCR 3, CCR 4, CCR 5, CCR 7 and CXCR 4 in head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Methods Immunohistochemical expression of chemokine receptors was evaluated in a retrospective cohort of 76 cases of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Clinicopathological associations were analysed using the chi‐square test, survival curves were analysed according to the Kaplan‐Meier method, and the Cox proportional hazard model was applied for multivariate survival analysis. Results The chemokine receptors were highly expressed in primary carcinomas, except for CCR 1 and CCR 3. Significant associations were detected, including the associations between CCR 5 expression and lymph node metastasis (N stage, P = .03), advanced clinical stage ( P = .003), poor differentiation of tumours ( P = .05) and recurrence ( P = .01). The high expression of CCR 5 was also associated with shortened disease‐free survival ( HR : 2.85, 95% CI : 1.09‐8.14, P = .05), but the association did not withstand the Cox multivariate survival analysis. At univariate analysis, high expression of CCR 7 was associated with disease‐free survival and low levels of CXCR 4 were significantly associated with both disease‐specific and disease‐free survival. Conclusions These findings show that chemokine receptors may have an important role in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma progression, regional lymph node metastasis and recurrence.