Table 2 Differences of biomarkers between primary tumor and lymph node metastasis tumor   cytoplasmic CXCR4 CCR7 CXCL12 CCL21 EGFR   Low High P Low High P Low High P Low High P Low High P   (n) (n)   (n) (n)   (n) (n)   (n) (n)   (n) (n)   PT 31 69 .372 30 70 .336 62 38 .016* 52 48 .004** 49 51 .572 MT 38 62   23 77   45 55   32 68   53 Akt inhibitor 47   PT means primary tumor, MT means lymph node metastasis tumor. The differences of the biomarker between primary tumors and metastasis tumors were tested by pearson χ2 analysis. *P

< 0.05, **P < 0.01 Correlation between CXCR4, CCR7, EGFR and HER-2/neu Although neither ER nor PR positivity was associated with degree of the biomarkers, HER2 over-expression was correlated with CXCR4 cytoplasmic positivity Selleck XL184 (p = 0.039; Table 1). As indicated by reports, the expression rate of HER2/nu in breast cancer is approximately 25%. In the results of this study, the expression of HER2 was nearly 20%, and among CXCR4 cytoplasmic positive patients, approximately 40% were associated with HER2 expression. In summary, tumors positive for CXCR4 cytoplasmic staining are more likely to be positive for HER2 over-expression. As an independent prognostic factor for breast cancer patients, EGFR is associated with a number of

pathological characteristics of breast cancer. According to the results, EGFR expression is correlated with lymph node metastasis and histological grade (Table 1). Interestingly, during analysis, it was discovered that close to 70% 17-DMAG (Alvespimycin) HCl of patients with high EGFR expression were CXCR4 and CCR7 positive as well. Spearmam’s rank correlation analysis revealed that EGFR expression was significantly associated with CXCR4 cytoplasmic positivity and high CCR7 expression

(P < 0.01; Table 3). Table 3 Correlation of CXCR4, CCR7 and EGFR Variable Rho P value CXCR4 cytoplasmic and EGFR 0.255 <0.001** CXCR4 nuclear and EGFR 0.046 0.515 CXCR4 cytoplasmic and CCR7 0.383 <0.001** CXCR4 nuclear and CCR7 0.188 0.008** CCR7 and EGFR 0.186 0.008** The correlation between every two biomarkers was tested by Spearman’s rank correlation test. *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01 Concordance of CXCR4, CXCL12, CCR7, and CCL21 expression After performing IHC staining for the two CXCL12 and CCL21 chemokines, it was revealed that these were correlated with one another (P = 0.017, Table 4), indicating a tendency towards co-expression of these molecules in tumors. Hence, the expression of their receptors, CXCR4 and CCR7 was likely to be tightly linked (P = .008; Table 4). No significant association was present between the expression of CXCR4 and CXCL12, nor between CCR7 and its chemokine ligand CCL21 (Table 4). Table 4 Correlation of CXCR4, CCR7 and their ligands CXCL12, CCL21 Variable Rho P value CXCR4 cytoplasmic and CXCL12 0.035 0.731 CCR7 and CCL21 0.017 0.863 CXCL12 and CCL21 0.238 0.