Novel biomarkers and prognostic factors of C-C motif chemokine receptors in acute myeloid leukemia

Background: Although the role of CC chemokine receptors (CCRs) in various cancer types has been extensively studied, their prognostic value in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is still poorly understood. The following study analyzes the expression of CCR members in diverse sub-types of AML and their potential role and prognostic significance in AML. Methods: We first investigated the expression of CCR family members in various cancer types compared to the normal samples using the Oncomine dataset. The Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis (GEPIA) database was used to investigate the prognostic values of CCRs mRNA expression in AML, after which the expression pattern of CCR members in diverse AML subtypes was analyzed according to French-American and British (FAB) classification. Results: CCR1, CCR2, CCR5, and CCR7 were significantly upregulated in AML, while CCR10 was significantly downregulated compared with healthy subjects. CCR mRNA levels were correlated with various genotypes, as well as karyotypes. Survival analysis revealed that high CCR1 levels were remarkably correlated with worse prognosis, while low CCR10 expression was correlated with high overall survival. Moreover, CCR1 (p=0.031) and CCR10 (p=0.015) resulted as independent prognostic factors. Conclusions: Different expression and prognostic values of CCR members in AML were identified, suggesting that CCR1 and CCR10 might be used as novel biomarkers and crucial prognostic factors for AML.