CCR6 Overexpression Predicted Advanced Biological Behaviors and Poor Prognosis in Patients with Gastric Cancer

Background: CCR6 expression is deregulated in some human malignancies and may be involved in the tumor progression. The aim of the present study was to determine the CCR6 expression in gastric cancer (GC) and to clarify its clinical significance.

Methods: We used western blotting to examine CCR6 protein expression in GC tissues and matched adjacent non-tumor tissues. Immunohistochemistry was performed on a large cohort of 372 postoperative GC samples. Chi-square test, Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox regression model were used to analyze the data.

Results: Upregulated CCR6 protein expression was observed in the GC tissues by western blotting compared with the adjacent non-cancerous gastric tissues. High CCR6 expression was detected in 56.5 % (210/372) samples and significantly associated with the extracapsular extension of the tumor, tumor relapse and poor overall survival in GC (P < 0.001). Further analysis demonstrated that the CCR6 expression level stratified the patient outcome in stage II, stage III, T3/4, N positive and poorly differentiated/undifferentiated tumor subgroups. The Cox regression analysis showed that high expression of CCR6 was an independent prognostic factor for GC patients.

Conclusions: CCR6 expression may be a novel biomarker for predicting clinical outcomes for GC patients.