Prognostic value of the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the mobile tongue

Expression of the CXCL12/CXCR4 chemokine axis predicts regional control in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

“…Immunohistochemistry studies have found that CXCR4 expression levels are significantly higher in the tumors of patients with regional involvement at the initial evaluation (N?) [10,11,[15][16][17][18]. Considering the transcriptional expression, Ueda et al [12] found a significant relationship in HNSCC patients between CXCR4 mRNA values measured by RT-PCR and the regional status.…”

CXCR4: A New Player in an Old Scene?

“…An elimination of epithelial markers, including E-cadherin and β-catenin, and an increase in mesenchymal markers, including vimentin, SNAIL, and NG-cadherin, facilitate the degradation of the extracellular matrix, which relies on matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) [75] . The CXCL12/CXCR4 axis was significantly correlated with EMT-associated proteins in OSCC [46] . Ou et al [76] suggested that the EMT-related transcription factor TWIST regulates CXCR4 expression and that TWIST overexpression was associated with lymph node metastasis.…”

“…HNSCC patients with high levels of CXCR4 protein and/or RNA expression demonstrated a higher rate of lymph node and distant metastases, and loco-regional recurrence, and a significantly reduced chance of being metastasis free and the likelihood of overall survival. Interestingly, the clinical outcome in patients with high levels of CXCL12 expression, the reverse was observed [46,51,66,[81][82][83][84][85] . Since CXCL12/CXCR4 was demonstrated to be involved in more than 20 different human cancers, it has been thought that CXCR4 antagonism could reduce tumour cell growth, migration, and chemotaxis [86] .…”

“…Ever since, CXCL12/ CXCR4 protein and RNA overexpression was demonstrated in HNSCC [21,[46][47][48][49][50][51] . Differences in CXCR4 expression between the studies most likely refer to different HNSCC primary tumour sites (oral cavity, larynx, oropharynx, hypopharynx).…”

Cancer Stem Cells and Stemness Markers in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinomas

“…Meng et al, 2010;Albert et al, 2012 CD166 (ALCAM) -Recently recognized as a potential membrane associated stem cell marker. -In HNSCC, over expression of CD166+ cells demonstrate a greater sphere formation ability in vitro, tumour formation ability in vivo and are positively correlated with poor patient outcome & higher tumour recurrence rates.…”