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, tumor-promoting chemokines and chemokine receptors in LNs of breast cancer patients. 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(+) compared to LN(-) samples. However, these differences were not statistically significant. IL-8 and CXCR5 gene transcripts had significantly higher expression in LN(+ )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(+), CCR5(+) and CD3(+)CCR5(+) cells in LN of LN(+) compared to LN(- )breast cancer patients (P value<0.05). Expression of MCP-1 was higher in LN(+) patients, which was near significance (P value = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS 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.

中文翻译：

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趋化因子和趋化因子受体：乳腺癌患者转移淋巴结和非转移淋巴结的比较研究。

背景技术淋巴结（LNs）是肿瘤转移的第一个站点。LN中趋化因子和趋化因子受体的表达与癌症的预后有关，被认为是肿瘤进展的良好预测因子。这项研究的主要目的是评估乳腺癌患者LN中重要的促肿瘤趋化因子和趋化因子受体的表达。LN从18名被诊断患有乳腺癌的妇女中分离出来。比较阳性和阴性LN之间的数据。通过定量实时PCR（qRT-PCR）和流式细胞仪确定趋化因子和趋化因子受体的表达。结果qRT-PCR结果显示，所有趋化因子，特别是MCP-1，IL-8，SDF-1和CXCL13，以及趋化因子受体CXCR3，CXCR4和CCR5在LN（+）中的mRNA表达均高于LN（-）。样品。然而，这些差异没有统计学意义。与患有II期肿瘤的LN（+）患者相比，患有II期肿瘤的LN（+）患者中IL-8和CXCR5基因转录物的表达明显更高（P值= 0.04）。流式细胞仪分析的结果显示，与LN（-）乳腺癌患者相比，LN（+）的LN中CD69（+），CCR5（+）和CD3（+）CCR5（+）细胞更高，更重要的存在（P值<0.05）。LN（+）患者中MCP-1的表达较高，这接近显着性（P值= 0.07）。结论我们的发现提供了有关LN中必需趋化因子和趋化因子受体的表达以及它们与乳腺癌重要预后因素的关系的更多信息。这些发现对乳腺癌的免疫治疗干预具有重要意义。