Expression of MMPª²2 and TIMPª²2 in human pancreatic carcinoma and its clinical significance

    MA Qingª²Yong, DONG Bo

    Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, First Hospital, Xi¡¯an Jiaotong University, Xi¡¯an 710061, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To investigate the expression of MMPª²2 and TIMPª²2 in tumor invasion and local metastasis or as a prognostic factor in patients with pancreatic carcinoma. METHODS: The expression of MMPª²2 and TIMPª²2 was examined in 32 patients with pancreatic carcinomas and 10 normal pancreatic tissues by Sª²P immunohistochemical technique. The results were correlated with clinicopathological tumor parameters. Survival analyses were made by using the Kaplanª²Meier method. RESULTS: The positive unit(PU) of MMPª²2¡¢TIMPª²2 in 32 patients with pancreatic carcinoma were 56.3% and 75.0%, respectively; the PU of MMPª²2, TIMPª²2 in 10 normal pancreatic tissue were 20.0% and 10.0%. Expression of MMPª²2 and TIMPª²2 was significantly higher in pancreatic carcinoma than that in the controls (P<0.05). Expression of MMPª²2 and TIMPª²2 was independent of sex, age, histologic grading and histologic type, but well correlated with the lymph node metastasis and TNM clinical staging (¢ñand ¢ó, ¢ò and ¢ó). There was a significant association between MMPª²2, TIMPª²2 and prognosis in pancreatic carcinoma, while no significant correlation was found between the expression of MMPª²2 and that of TIMPª²2 in pancreatic carcinoma. CONCLUSION: In human pancreatic carcinoma, MMPª²2 and TIMPª²2 may be involved in processes leading to the strong desmoplastic reaction. MMPª²2 and TIMPª²2 might be useful markers for biological aggressiveness of this malignancy and might contribute to the invasive properties of pancreatic carcinoma, which can be used to evaluate the prognosis of these patients. ......