Premium
Preoperative plasma MMP‐2 expression is prognostic in colorectal cancer
Author(s) -
Tutton M. G.,
Sharif S. P.,
Eccles S. A.,
George M. L.,
Abulafi A. M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
colorectal disease
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.029
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1463-1318
pISSN - 1462-8910
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-1318.2006.01102_4.x
Subject(s) - medicine , gelatinases , colorectal cancer , gelatinase , metastasis , zymography , stage (stratigraphy) , lymphovascular invasion , cancer , gastroenterology , mann–whitney u test , oncology , pathology , matrix metalloproteinase , paleontology , biology
The gelatinases (MMP‐2 and MMP‐9) are important in colorectal cancer invasion and metastasis. Plasma concentrations of the gelatinases correlate with clinical stage in colorectal cancer; however, whether this gives prognostic information is unknown. Method: Gelatinase mRNA and protein levels in tumour and plasma were determined respectively by RT‐PCR, ELISA and gelatin zymography in a prospective study of 75 colorectal cancer patients. At follow‐up, 40 patients were alive with a median survival of 75 months (range 72–80). Results: Expression of the gelatinases was significantly increased within tumour relative to normal colon and within plasma of cancer patients ( P < 0.01; Mann–Whitney U ‐test). Within plasma, total MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 expression (MMP plus MMP/TIMP complexes), determined by ELISA, and free MMP‐2(72 kDa) determined by gelatin zymography, increased significantly with Dukes’ stage ( P < 0.001; Kruskal–Wallis test). As well as correlating with Dukes’ stage, lymphatic and vascular invasion, Kaplan–Meier survival analysis showed that only elevated plasma MMP‐2 was significantly associated with a worse prognosis: free MMP‐2 (worse prognosis with increasing quartile; P < 0.05) and total MMP‐2 (upper quartile cut‐off limit; P = 0.04). Discussion: In addition to being an indicator of colorectal cancer invasion, plasma MMP‐2 levels may provide a simple, non‐invasive preoperative test for prognosis in colorectal cancer.