Examples of different staining of mesothelioma tissues for CXCR4, which was ultimately found in almost all tumors.

The expression of chemokines and chemokine receptors has been linked to disease prognosis of various cancers.  The expression and role of chemokines and their receptors in mesothelioma is not well known.  In this article by Tong Li et.al, the authors report that the chemokine CXCL12 (stromal derived factor 1) and the receptor CXCR4 were overexpressed in mesothelioma samples from 41 patients and in cell lines.  CXCR4 was found in almost all mesotheliomas (97%) and CXCL12 in 78%; another receptor CXCR7 was only weakly expressed. CXCL12 binding to CXCR4 may mediate cell adhesion, migration and proliferation in tumor cells. In cell lines with high expression, an antagonist of CXCR4, AMD3100, reduced proliferation.  In conclusion, this paper proposed CXCR4-CXCL12 axis as a potential therapeutic target in mesothelioma.

Read the article here.