Changes in the expression of membrane type-matrix metalloproteinases genes (MMP14, MMP15, MMP16, MMP24) during treatment and their potential impact on the survival of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

Abstract

The analysis concerned the comparison of the expression of membrane type matrix metalloproteinases genes in the blood and tissue of NSCLC patients during the course of the disease and comparison to the control group. Blood and neoplastic tissue taken from 45 patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer was a research material. The expression level of MMP14, MMP15, MMP16 and MMP24 was evaluated by qPCR and the results were compared with controls. The expression of MMP14 and MMP24 before tumor removal surgery and 100 days after was lower than in the control group. Interestingly, one year after surgery the levels of expression of these genes were identical to those in the control group. This suggests that the expression of metalloproteinase genes changes in the course of cancer and that effective treatment results in the normalization of gene expression. Lower expression of MMP15 in the blood of patients with more advanced cancer disease was observed, confirming the suppressive nature of changes in the blood. It has also been demonstrated that higher expression of MMP14 and MMP15 in the tissue is associated with more advanced stage of disease development or more invasive nature of the lesion. There is a noticeable increase of expression level in the environment surrounding the tumor, while a lower can be observed in the blood. This may indicate that changes in the expression of metalloproteinases in cancer are much more complex than merely the tumor tissue, which may also account for the inadequacies of metalloproteinase inhibitors.