Abstract
Aims and background: The aim of the present study was to analyze the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) in endometrial cancer and its correlation with clinicopathologic features in Chinese patients, including the survival of patients with endometrial cancer.Methods: Using immunohistochemistry analysis, we analyzed MMP9 protein expression in clinicopathologically characterized 128 endometrial cancer (EC) cases with age ranging from 30 to 85 years (median=51.6 years) and 30 endometrial atypical hyperplasia (EAH) and 30 normal endometrium (NE). Cases with greater than or equal to 6 and less than 6 with the score value of cytoplasmic MMP9 immunostaining were regarded as high expression and low expression, respectively. The relationship between the expression levels of MMP9 and clinical features was analyzed in EC cases.Results: Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that the protein expression of MMP9 detected in EC tissues was higher than that in the EAH tissues and NE tissues (P=0.006). In addition, high levels of MMP9 protein were positively correlated with the status of lymph node metastasis (P=0.044) and the histopathological grade (P<0.05) of EC patients. Patients with higher MMP9 expression did not correlate with EC patients' clinical outcome in China. Multivariate analysis suggested that status of lymph node metastasis and depth of myometrial invasion, but not MMP9 expression level, were significantly correlated with patients' survival.Conclusion: MMP9 is highly expressed in ECs and correlates with the progression of ECs, but not be helpful in predicting the prognosis of EC patients.
Highlights
Endometrial carcinoma represents the most frequently diagnosed malignancy of the female genital tract worldwide, but incidence varies among different coun-tries [1]
This is in accordance with their study, we found that the levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9) were higher in endometrial cancer (EC) tissues than those in non-cancerous endometrial tissues including endometrial atypical hyperplasia (EAH) and normal endometrium (NE) by immunohistochemistry assay, suggesting that MMP9 was involved in the pathogenesis of EC
We found that MMP9 overexpression was significantly associated with lymph node metastasis and histopathological grade of EC patients
Summary
Endometrial carcinoma represents the most frequently diagnosed malignancy of the female genital tract worldwide, but incidence varies among different coun-tries [1]. The disease often causes abnormal bleeding as a first symptom and is usually detected in its early stages (FIGO stage I). When diagnosed at early stages of the disease, this type of cancer is a highly curable malignancy with a 5-year relative survival rate of more than 80% [2]. MMP9, a member of the matrix metalloproteinases. F. Yu et al / MMP9 in endomerial cancer (MMPs), plays a critical role in breakdown of extracellular matrix in normal physiological processes, such as embryonic development, reproduction, and tissue remodeling, as well as in disease processes, such as tumor metastasis [3]. MMP9 is secreted from cells and, once activated, is thought to degrade collagen in the extracellular matrix, which promotes the metastasis of tumor cells [4]
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