Expression of MMP - 2 , MMP - 9 and VEGF in hepatocellular carcinoma and its clinical significance

Abstract

Objective To analyze the correlation of MMP-2,MMP-9 and VEGF expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and to investigate the clinical significance.Methods The expression of MMP-2,MMP-9 and VEGF were measured by immunohistochemistry in the resected specimens from 80 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and 30 controls.Results The positive rate of MMP-2,MMP-9 and VEGF were significantly higher in the hepatocellular carcinoma patients than those of controls( x2 =8.752,7.951,6.812,all P ＜ 0.05).The positive rate of MMP-2,MMP-9 and VEGF in Ⅲ ～ Ⅳ stage was significantly higher than those of patients in Ⅰ ～ Ⅱ stage tumor( x2 =6.124,5.262,5.834,all P ＜0.05).The positive rate of MMP-2,MMP-9 and VEGF in lymph node metastasis tumor was significantly higher than those of patients in non metastasis tumor( x2 =5.653,5.932,6.785,all P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusion MMP-2,MMP-9and VEGF expression in hepatocellular carcinoma increased markedly and plays an important role in progression of hepatocellular carcinoma. Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma; MMP-2; MMP-9 ; VEGF; Immunohistochemistry