Chemokine Receptor Expression and Organ-Specific Metastasis in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

我们通过体外实验和体内转移模型研究了CCR7在食管鳞癌(ESCC)淋巴转移中的作用。首先，我们使用天然的TE4和高表达CCR7的细胞株TE4CCR7+进行细胞黏附实验，以评估表达CCR7的细胞的黏附能力。接下来，我们使用新开发的淋巴结转移模型小鼠检测了表达CCR7的细胞在体内的表现。在临床病理研究中，我们对105例ESCC标本进行了免疫组织化学染色分析。细胞黏附实验显示，在配体存在的情况下，TE4CCR7+与内皮细胞的黏附能力更强(p&lt；0.01)。此外，TE4CCR7+细胞在模型小鼠中表现出较早的淋巴结转移和增殖。在临床病理分析中，CCR7阳性表达28例(27%)，与淋巴结转移(p=0.04)、5年生存率(p&lt；0.01)和OS(p=0.02)显著相关。这些结果有力地表明，CCR7在ESCC患者的淋巴转移和随后的不良预后中起着关键作用。

We investigated the role of CCR7 in lymph node involvement in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) with in vitro assays and in vivo metastasis model. First, we performed cell adhesion assay to assess the adhesive ability of CCR7-expressing cells, using native TE4 and TE4CCR7+, a CCR7-overexpressing cell line. Next, we examined how the CCR7-expressing cells behaved in vivo using newly-developed lymph node metastatic model mice. In a clinicopathological study, we analyzed 105 ESCC specimens with immunohistochemical staining. Cell adhesion assay revealed TE4CCR7+ had higher ability to attach to endothelial cells in the presence of the ligand (p<0.01). Furthermore, TE4CCR7+ cells showed earlier lymph node metastasis and proliferation in model mice. In the clinicopathological analysis, CCR7 expression was detected in 28 cases (27%), which was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis (p=0.04), 5-year RFS(p<0.01) and OS (p=0.02). These results strongly suggest that CCR7, in part, plays a critical role in lymph node metastasis and subsequent poor prognosis in patients with ESCC.