High expression of chemokines in breast cancer and the effects on the migration of cancer cells

Objective To research highly expressed chemokines in breast cancer, evaluate the relationship between the chemokines with the clinicopathological factors, and validate the effects of chemokines on migration of breast cancer cells in vitro. Methods The specimens of 72 breast cancer patients were collected. The expression of chemokines (CCL)11/chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand (CXCL) 8/CXCL9/CXCL10/CXCL12) in breast cancer tissues and tissues adjacent to cancer was detected. The highly expressed chemokines were chosen in breast cancer and the relationship between the chemokines with the clinicopathological factors was evaluated. The effects of chemokines on the migration ability of breast cancer cells were analyzed by Transwell method in vitro. Results CXCL10 and CXCL12 were highly expressed in breast cancer (1.18±2.16 vs. 0.54±1.52, t=2.328, P=0.023; 1.33±1.46 vs. 0.78±1.03, t=2.408, P=0.019), which had no relevance to the patients’ age, tumor size, TNM staging and the lymph node metastasis. The difference in CXCL10 mRNA expression in different states of human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (Her-2) and CXCL12 mRNA expression in various states of hormone receptors was statistically significant (F=4.206, P=0.044; F=5.865, P=0.019). Both CXCL10 and CXCL12 could improve the migration and invasion ability of the breast cancer cells. Conclusion CXCL10 and CXCL12 were highly expressed in breast cancer, which would influence the progression of the disease and promote the migration and invasion of the breast cancer cells. Key words: Breast cancer; Chemokines; Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 10; Chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 12