Premium
Expression of collagenase‐related metalloproteinase genes in human lung or head and neck tumours
Author(s) -
Muller D.,
Breathnach R.,
Engelmann A.,
Millon R.,
Bronner G.,
Flesch H.,
Dumont P.,
Eber M.,
Abecassis J.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.2910480412
Subject(s) - collagenase , metalloproteinase , gene expression , pathology , gene , northern blot , carcinoma , biology , lung , epidermoid carcinoma , head and neck squamous cell carcinoma , interstitial collagenase , head and neck , messenger rna , cancer research , head and neck cancer , medicine , matrix metalloproteinase , cancer , enzyme , genetics , surgery , biochemistry
We address the question as to whether increased metalloproteinase production might be related to the high regional recurrence rate of some carcinomas, and particularly head and neck squamous‐cell carcinomas (SCC). Northern blot of total RNA prepared from 26 lung carcinomas, 107 head and neck carcinoma samples and corresponding normal tissue samples demonstrates the frequent and sometimes concomitant over‐expression of the 2 stromelysin genes, the type‐1 collagenase gene and the pump ‐1 gene in the head and neck tumour tissue samples. In these SCC, over‐expression of the 2 stromelysin genes and the type‐1 collagenase gene (but not the pump ‐1 gene) is associated with a high degree of tumour differentiation. Moreover, a tumour with high levels of the stromelysin mRNAs is more likely to show high local invasiveness, suggesting that the stromelysins may be implicated in the clinical course of head and neck tumours. Evaluation of the corresponding mRNA levels may prove a useful indicator for predicting the clinical aggressiveness of these tumours.