• Weiqiang Zhou, Shanchun Guo, Mingli Liu, Matthew E Burow, and Guangdi Wang.
• Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Microecology of Liaoning Province, Shenyang Medical College, No.146 North Huanghe St, Huanggu District, Shenyang, Liaoning Province 110034, China.
• Curr. Med. Chem. 2019 Jan 1; 26 (17): 3026-3041.

AbstractChemokines, which have chemotactic abilities, are comprised of a family of small cytokines with 8-10 kilodaltons. Chemokines work in immune cells by trafficking and regulating cell proliferation, migration, activation, differentiation, and homing. CXCR-4 is an alpha-chemokine receptor specific for stromal-derived-factor-1 (SDF-1, also known as CXCL12), which has been found to be expressed in more than 23 different types of cancers. Recently, the SDF-1/CXCR-4 signaling pathway has emerged as a potential therapeutic target for human tumor because of its critical role in tumor initiation and progression by activating multiple signaling pathways, such as ERK1/2, ras, p38 MAPK, PLC/ MAPK, and SAPK/ JNK, as well as regulating cancer stem cells. CXCL12/CXCR4 antagonists have been produced, which have shown encouraging results in anti-cancer activity. Here, we provide a brief overview of the CXCL12/CXCR4 axis as a molecular target for cancer treatment. We also review the potential utility of targeting CXCL12/CXCR4 axis in combination of immunotherapy and/or chemotherapy based on up-to-date literature and ongoing research progress.Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.net.

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