CCR6 Is a Prognostic Marker for Overall Survival in Patients with Colorectal Cancer, and Its Overexpression Enhances Metastasis In Vivo

The chemokine receptor CCR6 has been recently shown to be associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) progression. However, the direct evidence for whether CCR6 in tumors is a prognostic marker for the survival of patients with CRC and whether it plays a critical role in CRC metastasis in vivo is lacking. Here we show that the levels of CCR6 were upregulated in CRC cell lines and primary CRC clinical samples. CCR6 upregulation was closely correlated with disease stages and the survival time of CRC patients. Knockdown of CCR6 inhibited the migration of CRC cells in vitro. Overexpression of CCR6 in CRC cells increased their proliferation, migration, and colony formation in vitro and promoted their metastatic potential in vivo. CCR6 activated Akt signaling, upregulated metastasis genes and downregulated metastasis suppressor genes. Selective targeting of CCR6 in tumors dramatically inhibited the growth of CRC in mice. Thus, the tumor expression of CCR6 plays a critical role in CRC metastasis, upregulated CCR6 predicts poor survival in CRC patients, and targeting CCR6 expression in tumors may be a potential therapeutic strategy for CRC.