The expression and clinical significance of MMP-2 、MMP-9 and VEGF in tongue squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Objective To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)、matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in tongue squamous cell carcinoma and the clinical significance.Methods The expression of MMP-2,MMP-9 and VEGF in 60 cases of tongues quamous cell carcinoma tissues and in 20 cases of normal tongues tissues were examined by immunochemistry.Results The expression of MMP-2,MMP-9 and VEGF was higher in tongues quamous cell carcinoma than that in normal pancreatic parenchyma.In cases with lymph nodes metastasis and TNM stage Ⅲ + Ⅳ,the expression of two markers were significantly higher than those without lymph nodes metastasis and TNM stage Ⅰ + Ⅱ (P ＜ 0.05).A positive correlation was found between the expression of VEGF and MMP-2,MMP-9 in tongues quamous cell carcinoma ( P ＜ 0.05 ).Conclusion The expression of MMP-2,MMP-9 and VEGF was closely correlated with lymph nodes metastasis and TNM stage of tongues quamous cell carcinoma(P ＜ 0.05 ).VEGF and MMP-2,MMP-9 play an important role in the development of tongues quamous cell carcinoma,may cooperate with each other. Key words: Tongue; Carcinoma,squamous cell; vascular endothelial growth factor; matrix metallop roteinase-2; matrix metalloproteinase-9