Giulia Cantini, Laura Fei, Letizia Canu, Elena Lazzeri, Mariangela Sottili, Michela Francalanci, Maria Lucia Angelotti, Giuseppina De Filpo, Tonino Ercolino, Stefania Gelmini, Monica Mangoni, Gabriella Nesi, Constanze Hantel, Massimo Mannelli, Mario Maggi, Michaela Luconi
Adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC) is a rare malignancy with poor prognosis when metastatic and scarce treatment options in the advanced stages. In solid tumors, the chemokine CXCL12/CXCR4 axis is involved in the metastatic process. We demonstrated that the human adrenocortex expressed CXCL12 and its cognate receptors CXCR4 and CXCR7, not only in physiological conditions, but also in ACC, where the receptors' expression was higher and the CXCL12 expression was lower than in the physiological conditions. In a small pilot cohort of 22 ACC patients, CXCL12 negatively correlated with tumor size, stage, Weiss score, necrosis, and mitotic activity...
October 27, 2021: Journal of Personalized Medicine