Chemokine Receptors in Cancer

Chemokines are a superfamily of low molecular weight cytokines that were initially described based on their ability to induce the directed migration of leukocytes to sites of inflammation or injury. In humans, there are approximately 45 chemokines that bind to 19 G-protein-coupled receptors. In addition to mediating cellular migration, chemokines have now been shown to affect many cellular functions including survival, adhesion, invasion, proliferation, and to regulate circulating chemokine levels. Although chemokine receptors were first described on leukocytes, it is now appreciated that chemokine receptors are also expressed by many other cells including endothelial and epithelial cells.

Since the first description of chemokine receptors on malignant cells in 2001, an extensive literature has developed describing the expression and function of chemokine receptors in many malignancies. These studies support the initial hypothesis that malignant cells use chemokine receptors to migrate to distant sites of ligand expression and that expression of certain receptors is associated with a poor prognosis. It has also become apparent that malignancies of different tissues may use a diverse profile of chemokine receptors and that the same receptor may mediate metastasis to different sites in tumors of different histological origins. Receptor function may also maintain survival and expansion of the primary tumor.

From the reviews:

“This book will appeal to a broad audience. It is useful for anyone who is interested in the area of chemokines and their receptors in cancer, including students, established investigators, and clinicians. … The book provides a nice, concise summary of the evidence for the role of chemokine receptors in cancer. … this book largely focuses on the role of chemokine receptors on tumor cells themselves and effects on angiogenesis, progression, and metastasis, adding significantly to our current knowledge about cancer.” (Cheryl E. Rockwell, Doody’s Review Service, December, 2009)

“Report the progress of chemokine and chemokine receptor study in cancer-therapy-related research. … provides an overview that is useful not only to researchers focusing on cancer immunology research, but also to graduate students and postdoctoral associates who have just started working in this area. … the book not only attractive to cancer biologists, but also to medicinal chemists and pharmacologists working in the field of anticancer drug discovery. … applied as a reasonable starting point for cancer researchers to grasp the progress in this area.” (Yan Zhang, ChemMedChem, Vol. 5, 2010)