Abstract
Inflammatory breast cancer (IBC) is characterized by congestion of dermal lymphovascular spaces by tumor emboli. We characterized expression of CCR7, a lymphocyte homing chemokine receptor, in IBC cell lines and patient tissues. CCR7 gene expression was quantified using World IBC Consortium Database and correlated with protein expression in cell lines and IBC mastectomy samples post-neoadjuvant therapy. CCR7 expression on tissue microarray (TMA) was scored by staining pattern (complete vs. incomplete membranous), percent tumor stained, and staining intensity. CCR7 was highly expressed in IBC cell lines and a previously validated preclinical mouse model. Among 137 IBC and 252 non-IBC patient samples, CCR7 gene expression was significantly higher in IBC compared to non-IBC (p = 0.0007). Within IBC samples, gene expression was higher in HER2+ (p = 0.0002), basal (p = 0.0161), and ER- IBC patients (p = 0.010). Of the 24 IBC TMAs, almost all were CCR7 positive (23, 95.8%), with 15 (62.5%) demonstrating completely membranous expression. CCR7 is highly expressed in IBC cell lines and patient tumor samples, with preferential expression in HER2-positive and basal-like IBC subtypes. Given its high prevalence, CCR7 may serve as a potential target for antibody-based drug design in future IBC studies.
Data availability
Mouse RNA sequence data is available in the SRA database [BioProject accession: PRJNA1428295].
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Funding
This work was supported by a trainee grant from Susan G. Komen® awarded to Dr. Lorna McNeill (PI) and Dr. Kelly Hunt (co-PI): GTDR17498270 supporting WB; NIH T32 CA 009599 and support grant P30 CA016672 supporting JHC, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Duncan Family Institute for Cancer Prevention and Risk Assessment through the Center for Community-Engaged Translational Research; The MD Anderson Boot Walk to End Cancer fund; The State of Texas Rare and Aggressive Breast Cancer Grant; The IBC Network; the Research and Animal Support Facility of the Cancer Center Support (Core) Grant P30 CA016672, from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, to The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (PI PW Pisters), R01CA284102 (WAW), Cathy Rain Smith IBC Seed Fund (WAW). We also thank MD Anderson’s Veterinary Pathology Services for technical support with tissue processing and staining.
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Conceptualization: WAW, BL, Data curation: JHC, WB, ANL, RAL, SS, CS, MMR, JL, ESV, BGD, NU, SVL, FB, HC, EPS, SK, Formal analysis: NWF, SK, ESV, HC, ANL, JHC, SK, WAW, Funding acquisition & supervision: WAW, Writing—original draft preparation: JHC, WB, WAW, Writing—reviewing & editing: all.
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Chen, J.H., Balema, W., Krishnamurthy, S. et al. CCR7 immune cell receptor expression in inflammatory breast cancer. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-43437-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-43437-4
