Expression levels of matrix metalloproteinases in ascites of patients with ovarian cancer and the relationship with pathological characteristics of ovarian cancer

Objective: To explore the expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in ascites in ovarian tumor and provide a theoretical basis for the diagnosis and prognosis evaluation of ovarian cancer ascites.Methods: ELISA was used to detect the levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in ascites samples from 73 cases of patients with malignant ovarian tumor, and RIA was used to detect the expression level of CA125 in the serum in these patients.Results: The expression levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in ascites in malignant ovarian tumor were higher than those in ascites in benign ovarian tumor (t = 8.08, 10.39, p .05). The sensitivities of detecting MMP-2 and MMP-9 in ascites were 76.0% and 88.0%, respectively, which were significantly higher than those of ascites cytological examinations (χ2 = 4.61, 12.74, p .05). The specificities of detecting MMP-2 and MMP-9 in ascites were 78.3% and 82.6%, respectively, which were significantly lower than those of ascites cytological examinations (χ2 = 5.61, 4.38, p < .05), but in comparison with serum CA125, there was no statistically significant difference (χ2 = 1.64, 2.68, p < .05).Conclusions: The levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in ascites may be markers for the differential diagnosis of benign and malignant ovarian lesions, and they are related to the prognosis in patients with malignant ovarian tumors.