Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression status of CXCR7 in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines. Methods The
expression status of CXCR7 was detected in 35 primary gastric cancer tissues and matched adjacent tissues by
immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. The correlation of CXCR7 expression with the clinicopathological parameters and risk
factors of gastric cancer was analyzed. The expression of CXCR7 in gastric cell lines (HGC-27, MGC-803, BGC-823, SGC-7901
and MKN-28) was also detected by immunofluorescence assay. Results The expression of CXCR7 was significantly higher in
gastric cancer tissues than in adjacent tissues (P<0.01). CXCR7 expression was not correlated with age, gender, smoking
history, Helicobacter pylori infection, tumor location or the pathological type, but showed a higher expression level in patients
with a alcohol-drinking history than in those without (P<0.05). CXCR7 was expressed with variable intensities in the 5 gastric
cancer cell lines without correlation with the degrees of cell differentiation; its expression was the highest in SGC-7901 cells, a
moderately differentiated human gastric adenocarcinoma cell line. Conclusions CXCR7 is highly expressed in gastric cancer
tissues with variable intensities in 5 gastric cancer cell lines, suggesting its important role in gastric cancer progression.