CCL chemokines as prognostic and immunotherapeutic markers in prostate cancer: a comprehensive analysis

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to delineate the prognostic significance of CCL family expression in Prostate Cancer (PCa) and explore their immunomodulatory roles to assess therapeutic potential. METHODS: We identified CCL family expression profile utilizing ONCOMINE, and their relationship with the pathological stage and Gleason Score of PCa patients. The genetic alterations and protein-protein interactions were investigated in PCa. Subsequently, Transcriptional regulatory networks were established using TRRUST database. The immunocyte infiltration expression profile was investigated based on the CCL expression. Go and KEGG analysis was employed to further explore the biological functions and pathways. Finally, we verified the CCL gene expression using in vitro PCR experiments. RESULTS: The findings revealed a notable elevation in the expression levels of CCL11/14/16/18/19 in PCa, whereas the expression of CCL2/7/8/17/23/25 were significantly decreased in PCa compared to the expression levels in normal tissues.High expression of both CCL3 and CCL4 was significantly associated with shorter disease-free survival.CCL8/22/24 and CCL3/11/17/18/19/22 was associated with high pathological N stage and high Gleason Score, respectively. High expression of CCL11/17/18/22/24 and CCL3/11/17/18/19/22 was associated with high pathological N stage and high Gleason Score, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The findings may provide insights and evidence on the potential application of CCL chemokines as immunotherapeutic treatment targets and prognostic biomarkers for PCa.