In the present study, it was first found by tissue microarray-based immunohistochemistry that CXCL12 and CXCR7 staining scores were significantly associated with vessel invasion and overall survival in two independent cohorts of PC.
GPRC5A (RAI3), coding for a seven transmembrane G protein-coupled receptor is known to be overexpressed in pancreatic cancer and might be an interesting candidate for therapeutic intervention.
Functional enrichment analysis using DAVID consistently found the G protein-coupled receptor signaling pathway (including both neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction and olfactory transduction pathways) to be the most significant pathway for pancreatic cancer risk in this study population.