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Updated: Jul 29, 2025
Gene Regulation and Targeted Therapy in Gastric Cancer Peritoneal Metastasis: Radiological Findings from Dual Energy CT and PET/CT
Published on: January 22, 2018
CCL19/CCR7 drives regulatory T cell migration and indicates poor prognosis in gastric cancer
Danhua Xu1, Xu Liu1, Shouyu Ke1
1Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Background:
Gastric cancer is associated with significant morbidity and mortality in the world. Blocking programmed cell death protein 1 pathway have been approved for the treatment of a variety of tumors and have achieved remarkable clinical therapeutic effects. However, immune checkpoint inhibitors failed to achieve satisfactory results in gastric cancer. There is a need to identify novel immunotherapy targets in gastric cancer.
Methods:
We analysed the correlation between Treg cells and CD8 + T cells in gastric cancer samples. We studied the relationship between chemokines and Treg cells or CD8 + T cells in gastric cancer. We compared CCL19/CCR7 expression in gastric cancer patients in TCGA database. We performed transwell experiments to determine the influence of CCL19 on Treg cells and CD8 + T cells migratory capacity. We conducted survival analysis of CCL19 and CCR7 in gastric cancer database.
Results:
Treg cells show positive correlation with CD8 + T cells in gastric cancer. Treg cell expression was significantly upregulated in tumor tissues. Patients with high FOXP3 expression had worse overall survival than those with low FOXP3 expression. CCL19 had strong correlation with FOXP3 and weak correlation with CD8A. CCL19 had strong impact on the migratory capacity of Treg cells but weak impact on the migratory capacity of CD8 + T cells. Both CCL19 and CCR7 expression were significantly upregulated in gastric cancer tissues. Survival analysis demonstrated that both CCL19 and CCR7 indicate poor prognosis in gastric cancer.
Conclusions:
CCL19/CCR7 may be a potential novel therapeutic target in gastric cancer.
Insights
Immune checkpoint inhibitors show limited success in gastric cancer. This study identifies CCL19/CCR7 as a potential therapeutic target, showing its association with regulatory T cells and poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Immunology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Gastric cancer presents a significant global health challenge with high morbidity and mortality.
- While immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown success in various cancers, their efficacy in gastric cancer remains limited, necessitating novel therapeutic targets.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the correlation between regulatory T cells (Tregs) and CD8+ T cells in gastric cancer.
- To explore the role of chemokines, specifically CCL19 and its receptor CCR7, in gastric cancer immunity and patient prognosis.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of Treg and CD8+ T cell correlations in gastric cancer samples.
- Assessment of chemokine expression (CCL19/CCR7) in the TCGA database.
- Transwell assays to evaluate the migratory effects of CCL19 on T cells.
- Survival analysis based on CCL19 and CCR7 expression.
Main Results:
- Treg cell expression is upregulated in gastric tumors and correlates positively with CD8+ T cells.
- High FOXP3 expression (a marker for Tregs) is associated with worse overall survival.
- CCL19 significantly impacts Treg cell migration and is upregulated in gastric cancer tissues.
- Both CCL19 and CCR7 expression are linked to poor prognosis in gastric cancer patients.
Conclusions:
- The CCL19/CCR7 chemokine pathway is implicated in gastric cancer progression.
- CCL19/CCR7 represents a potential novel therapeutic target for improving immunotherapy outcomes in gastric cancer.
