Abstract
Invasion and cervical lymph node metastasis are two factors governing the poor prognosis of patients with tongue cancer. Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) has been implicated in invasion and lymph node metastasis of several tumor types. However, the relationship between MMP-9 expression and clinicopathologic characteristics in human tongue cancer has little been reported. This study included 48 patients with tongue cancer, of which 18 cases showed lymph node metastasis. The relationship between MMP-9 expression and the mode of invasion and nodal involvement was immunohistochemically examined. MMP-9 overexpression was identified in 31 cases (64.6 %). Frequent expression of MMP-9 was statistically significant (p<0.05) in the cases with lymph node metastasis or advanced stage. MMP-9 may play an important role in the invasion and metastasis of tongue cancer. Thus, analysis of MMP-9 production may be useful for the evaluation of malignant potential in human tongue cancer.
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