Abstract
The present study aims to explore the role of stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α)/stromal cell-derived factor receptor-4 (CXCR4) signaling pathway to the clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). From January 2009 to December 2010, 102 patients with NPC and 80 patients with chronic nasopharyngitis were enrolled for the study. Immunohistochemical staining, quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), and Western blotting were employed to determine the expressions of SDF-1α and CXCR4 proteins in NPC tissues and chronic nasopharyngitis tissues. Chi-square test was conducted to analyze the associations of the expressions of SDF-1α and CXCR4 proteins with the clinicopathological features of NPC patients. Spearman rank correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between the SDF-1α protein expression and CXCR4 protein expression. The mRNA and protein expressions of SDF-1α and CXCR4 in NPC tissues were significantly higher than those in chronic nasopharyngitis tissues. The expressions of SDF-1α and CXCR4 proteins showed associations with T staging, N staging, tumor node metastasis (TNM) staging, skull base invasion, and cervical lymph node metastasis of NPC patients. Compared with NPC patients showing negative expressions of SDF-1α and CXCR4 proteins, those with positive expressions of SDF-1α and CXCR4 proteins had a significantly shorter survival time. SDF-1α protein, CXCR4 protein, EBV-IgG status, T staging, N staging, TNM staging, skull base invasion, and cervical lymph node metastasis were independent risk factors for the prognosis of NPC. The findings indicated that SDF-1α/CXCR4 signaling pathway might be associated with the clinicopathological features and prognosis of patients with NPC.
Highlights
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), a malignant nose pharynx tumor, is commonly misdiagnosed and difficult to treat [1]
The positive expression rate of stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α) protein in NPC tissues was significantly higher in comparison with the chronic nasopharyngitis tissues (P
The study findings indicate that the expressions of SDF-1α and CXCR4 proteins had any correlation with other clinicopathological features of NPC patients
Summary
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), a malignant nose pharynx tumor, is commonly misdiagnosed and difficult to treat [1]. As a disease with racial and geographical disparities, NPC is very common in Southern China and Southeast Asia with an occurrence rate of 25–50 patients per 100,000 people each year, and the incidence rate is a hundred times higher than that in western countries [2]. Based on the classification provided by Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), the main stages of NPC include T staging (local carcinoma growth), N staging (spreading to regional lymph nodes), and M staging (developing to distant metastasis) [4]. In NPC, the nasopharynx lymphatic drainage c 2017 The Author(s).
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