Analysis of chemokine and chemokine receptor expression in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck cell lines

As patients suffering from squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) commonly have a poor prognosis, there is a need to understand the impacts on the behaviour of tumor cells better. It is already known that the irridation of tumor cells leads to a modified expression of some chemokines and chemokine receptors. The purpose of this work was to analyze the expression of the chemokines CXCL12, CXCL1, CXCL3 and CCL20 and the chemokine receptors CXCR4, CXCR1, CCR6 as well as CCR7 in SCCHN lines under chemotherapy and radiochemotherapy. Therefore colony forming assays have been made with two normal cell lines and six SCCHN lines. In addition the expression of the above-mentioned chemokines and chemokine receptors was analyzed in the same cell lines by real-time PCR. For both examinations the cell lines were irridated and incubated with cisplatin. Afterwards single chemotherapy, single radiotherapy and combined radiochemotherapy were compared. Under single chemotherapy with cisplatin the surviving of all cell lines decreased significantly in comparison to the untreated cells. The effect was much more distinctive with the SCCHN lines than the normal cell lines. When compared, combined radiochemotherapy had only an additional effect, radiosensitization could not be detected. In most of the examined samples, there was a stronger reinforcement in radiochemotherapy -compared to single radiotherapy - regarding the modification of the expression of chemokines and chemokine receptors. The differing behaviour of the expression of chemokines and chemokine receptors under the various therapies shows the complexity of the issue. To fully understand the influence of chemokines and chemokine receptors on the behaviour of tumor cells and their use in clinical practice further studies need to be conducted.2017-03-2