Department of General Surgery, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, China.
J Surg Oncol. 2011 Dec;104(7):787-91. doi: 10.1002/jso.21970. Epub 2011 Jun 7.
The expression of matrix metalloproteinase-21 (MMP-21) has been shown to be elevated in some solid tumor and thought to enhance tumor invasion and metastasis ability. In the present study, we investigated the expression of MMP-21 and its association with prognosis in stage II and III colorectal cancer.
MMP-21 expression was investigated in 286 cases of colorectal cancer by immunohistochemistry assay. Statistical analysis was utilized to evaluate the association of MMP-21 expression with clinicopathological characters and overall survival of patients with stage II and III colorectal cancer.
MMP-21 expression was significantly higher in colorectal cancer, compared with that in normal epithelial tissue. And it also correlated with tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, and distant metastasis of colorectal cancer. MMP-21 was also proved to be an independent prognostic factor in patients with stage II as well as stage III colorectal cancer. However, no correlations between MMP-21 expression and patients' age, sex, tumor location, or differentiation status were detected.
These results suggested the potential role of MMP-21 in the invasion and metastasis process of human colorectal cancer. It could also be a novel molecular marker to predict prognosis of patients with stage II and stage III colorectal cancer.
基质金属蛋白酶-21（MMP-21）的表达已被证明在一些实体瘤中升高，并被认为增强了肿瘤的侵袭和转移能力。在本研究中，我们研究了 MMP-21 的表达及其与 II 期和 III 期结直肠癌预后的关系。
通过免疫组织化学检测 286 例结直肠癌中 MMP-21 的表达。利用统计学分析评估 MMP-21 表达与 II 期和 III 期结直肠癌患者的临床病理特征和总生存的关系。
MMP-21 在结直肠癌中的表达明显高于正常上皮组织。它还与结直肠癌的侵袭、淋巴结转移和远处转移相关。MMP-21 也是 II 期和 III 期结直肠癌患者的独立预后因素。然而，MMP-21 表达与患者的年龄、性别、肿瘤部位或分化状态之间没有相关性。
这些结果表明 MMP-21 可能在人类结直肠癌的侵袭和转移过程中发挥作用。它也可能是预测 II 期和 III 期结直肠癌患者预后的新的分子标志物。
