@Article{ecn.2012.0310,
AUTHOR = {Mahboobeh Razmkhah, Mansoureh Jaberipour, Akbar Safaei, Abdol-Rasoul Talei, Nasrollah Erfani, Abbass Ghaderi},
TITLE = {Chemokine and chemokine receptors: a comparative study between metastatic and nonmetastatic lymph nodes in breast cancer patients},
JOURNAL = {European Cytokine Network},
VOLUME = {23},
YEAR = {2012},
NUMBER = {3},
PAGES = {72--77},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/ECN/v23n3/65696},
ISSN = {1952-4005},
ABSTRACT = {Background: Lymph nodes (LNs) are among the first sites of tumor metastasis. The expression of
chemokines and chemokine receptors in LNs are involved in cancer prognosis and are considered to be good
predictors of tumor progression. The main aim of this study was to assess the expression of important, tumorpromoting
chemokines and chemokine receptors in LNs of breast cancer patients. Methods: LNs were isolated
from eighteen women diagnosed with breast cancer. Data were compared between positive and negative LNs.
Expression of chemokines and chemokine receptors were determined by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR)
and flow cytometry. Results: Results of qRT-PCR showed that all chemokines, in particular MCP-1, IL-8, SDF-1
and CXCL13, and chemokine receptors CXCR3, CXCR4 and CCR5 showed greater mRNA expression in LN<sup>+</sup>
compared to LN<sup>-</sup> samples. However, these differences were not statistically significant. IL-8 and CXCR5 gene
transcripts had significantly higher expression in LN<sup>+</sup> patients with stage III compared to those with stage II tumors
(P value = 0.04). Results of flow cytometry analysis showed a higher, significant presence of CD69<sup>+</sup>, CCR5<sup>+</sup> and
CD3<sup>+</sup>CCR5<sup>+</sup> cells in LN of LN<sup>+</sup> compared to LN<sup>-</sup> breast cancer patients (P value<0.05). Expression of MCP-1 was
higher in LN<sup>+</sup> patients, which was near significance (P value = 0.07). Conclusion: Our findings provide additional
information on the expression of essential chemokines and chemokine receptors in LN and on their relationships to
important prognostic factors in breast cancer. These findings have important implications for immunotherapeutic
interventions in the treatment of breast cancer.},
DOI = {10.1684/ecn.2012.0310}
}