Data from: CXCL17 expression predicts poor prognosis and correlates with adverse immune infiltration in hepatocellular carcinoma

CXC ligand 17 (CXCL17) is a novel CXC chemokine whose clinical
significance remains largely unknown. In the present study, we
characterized the prognostic value of CXCL17 in patients with
hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and evaluated the association of CXCL17
with immune infiltration. We examined CXCL17 expression in 227 HCC tissue
specimens by immunohistochemical staining, and correlated CXCL17
expression patterns with clinicopathological features, prognosis, and
immune infiltrate density (CD4 T cells, CD8 T cells, B cells, natural
killer cells, neutrophils, macrophages). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis
showed that both increased intratumoral CXCL17 (P = 0.015 for overall
survival [OS], P = 0.003 for recurrence-free survival [RFS]) and
peritumoral CXCL17 (P = 0.002 for OS, P<0.001 for RFS) were
associated with shorter OS and RFS. Patients in the CXCL17low group had
significantly lower 5-year recurrence rate compared with patients in the
CXCL17high group (peritumoral: 53.1% vs. 77.7%, P<0.001,
intratumoral: 58.6% vs. 73.0%, P = 0.001, respectively). Multivariate Cox
proportional hazards analysis identified peritumoral CXCL17 as an
independent prognostic factor for both OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.066, 95%
confidence interval [CI] = 1.296–3.292, P = 0.002) and RFS (HR = 1.844,
95% CI = 1.218–2.793, P = 0.004). Moreover, CXCL17 expression was
associated with more CD68 and less CD4 cell infiltration (both
P<0.05). The combination of CXCL17 density and immune infiltration
could be used to further classify patients into subsets with different
prognosis for RFS. Our results provide the first evidence that
tumor-infiltrating CXCL17+ cell density is an independent prognostic
factor that predicts both OS and RFS in HCC. CXCL17 production correlated
with adverse immune infiltration and might be an important target for
anti-HCC therapies.