Objective To investigate the expression of chemokine receptor CXCR7 and the relation between its expression and clinicopathologic characteristics in papillary thyroid carcinoma. Method The expressions of CXCR7 in 79 cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma and their paracancerous tissues，and 33 cases of benign thyroid lesion tissues were detected by immunohistochemistry. Results The positive expression rates of CXCR7 were 0（0/79），65.8%（52/79），and 30.3%（10/33） in the paracancerous tissues，papillary thyroid carcinoma tissues，and benign thyroid lesions tissues，respectively. The positive expression rate of CXCR7 in the papillary thyroid carcinoma tissues was significantly higher than that in the paracancerous tissues （P＜0.05） or benign thyroid lesion tissues（P＜0.05）. The expression of CXCR7 was correlated with lymph node metastasis （P＜0.05）. Conclusion CXCR7 might take part in tumorigenesis，progression，and lymph node metastasis of papillary thyroid carcinoma.
