CXC chemokine receptor 7 expression in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia

Cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), also known as transformation and dysplasia of cervical intraepithelial cells, is the precancerous lesion of squamous cell carcinoma. CXC chemokine receptor 7 (CXCR7) has been indicated in tumor development and metastasis of multiple malignancies or precancerous lesion. However, the protein expression and function of CXCR7 in different stages of human CIN remains unclear. The present study examined CXCR7 protein expression in cervical tissue samples from 34 patients, including 7 patients with normal cervical tissues (negative control), 10 patients with stage I of CIN (CIN I), 8 patients with CIN II and 9 patients with CIN III. Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) were established to evaluate the prognostic value of CXCR7 in differentiating various stages of CIN. Immunohistochemical staining showed that protein expression of CXCR7 was higher in CIN tissues compared with the normal cervical epithelium (P<0.05). High-grade CIN tissues expressed a higher level of CXCR7 compared to low-grade samples. The ROC curve of integral optical density analysis showed that CXCR7 could discriminate CIN I-III from normal cervical epithelium with 88.9% sensitivity and 71.4% specificity, and CIN II-III from the negative control and CIN I with 92.7% sensitivity and 50.0% specificity. ROC curve of area analysis also showed that CXCR7 could discriminate CIN I-III from normal cervical epithelium with 70.4% sensitivity and 100.0% specificity, and CIN II-III from the negative control and CIN I with 50.0% sensitivity and 90.0% specificity. An increase in CXCR7 expression may represent a novel predictor of CIN. The wide expression of CXCR7 in CIN also supports the assumption that CXCR7 plays a role in precancerous lesion progression, as well as proliferation, migration and angiogenesis.