@article {BATSI3537, author = {OURANIA BATSI and IOANNA GIANNOPOULOU and IOANNIS NESSERIS and CHRISTOS VALAVANIS and HARIKLIA GAKIOPOULOU and EFSTRATIOS S. PATSOURIS and PETROULA ARAPANDONI{\textendash}DADIOTI and ANDREAS C. LAZARIS}, title = {Immunohistochemical Evaluation of CXCL12{\textendash}CXCR4 Axis and VEGFR3 Expression in Primary Urothelial Cancer and its Recurrence}, volume = {34}, number = {7}, pages = {3537--3542}, year = {2014}, publisher = {International Institute of Anticancer Research}, abstract = {Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of CXC chemokine ligand-12 (CXCL12), CXC chemokine receptor 4 CXCR4 and of vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 3 (VEGFR3) in primary urothelial bladder carcinoma and their recurrence in relation to grade and pT status. Materials and Methods: Immunohistochemistry was applied to 67 primary tumor (PC) sections and their recurrenct tumors (RC). Results: The expression of CXCL12 both in PC and in RC was positively associated with tumor grade (p\<0.0001 and p\<0.0001, respectively) and pT stage (p=0.001 and p=0.007, respectively). The expression of CXCR4 in both PC and RC was also positively related to grade (p=0.001 and p\<0.0001, respectively) and pT stage (p=0.008 and p=0.005, respectively). We compared the expression of CXCL12 and CXCR4 in PC related to RC and found that both were more intense in RC than in PC (p\<0.0001 and p\<0.0001, respectively). In PC and in RC there was no association between the expression of VEGFR3 with tumor grade and pT stage. Conclusion: CXCL12 and CXCR4 expression was related to adverse prognostic markers in urothelial bladder carcinoma through their association with grade and pT stage both in PC and RC. The CXCL12{\textendash}CXCR4 axis may influence the expression of VEGFR3 in urothelial bladder carcinoma and promote tumor recurrence.}, issn = {0250-7005}, URL = {https://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/34/7/3537}, eprint = {https://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/34/7/3537.full.pdf}, journal = {Anticancer Research} }