SDF1β expression in renal cell carcinoma correlates with grading and infiltration by CD8+ T-cells

For several tumor entities, a significant correlation between the chemokine stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF1) and its receptor C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4), metastasis and tumor proliferation, as well as prognosis, has been described. In this study, a series of 105 renal cell carcinoma patients were analyzed in terms of expression of SDF1α and SDF1β and infiltration by CD4+ and CD8+ T-cells and the data correlated with TNM category, grading and survival. While the splice variant SDF1α had no impact on tumor grading, T-cell invasion or overall survival, expression of SDF1β showed a significant correlation with tumor grading and also suggested a correlation with metastasis, as well as CD8+ T-cell invasion. These results indicate a potential T-cell-mediated antitumor response induced by SDF1β up-regulation. Therefore targeting the SDF1β-CXCR4 signaling pathway may be a promising means for new therapeutic strategies in advanced tumor stages.