Correlation of MMP-9 and p53 protein expression with prognosis in metastatic spinal tumor of lung cancer.

The aim of the study was to compare the protein expression of MMP-9 and p53 and examine their correlation with prognosis in lung cancer metastatic spinal tumor. Tissue samples were obtained from 30 cases of para-cancerous tissue (group I), 75 cases of non-metastatic lung cancer tissue (group II) and 100 cases of metastatic spinal tumor tissue of lung cancer (group III). The protein expression of MMP-9 and p53 was detected by immunohistochemistry and was present in all three groups. The positive rate for MMP-9 was 20, 67 and 83%, respectively. There was a significant difference among the three groups (p<0.05). The positive rate for p53 was 16.7, 78.7 and 92%, respectively. There was a highly significant difference among the three groups (p<0.01). There was a positive correlation between the protein expressions of MMP-9 and p53 (Spearman's correlation coefficient r=0.351, p<0.05). The positive or negative expression of the two proteins was statistically significant (p<0.05) for 5-year survival. The expression of MMP-9 and p53 proteins in metastatic spinal tumors of lung cancer showed increasing trends, and the expression of MMP-9 and p53 proteins was significantly higher compared to non-metastatic lung cancer tissue and para-cancerous tissue samples. This likely was associated with the invasion and metastasis of lung cancer to the spine. Survival analysis suggested that the overexpression of p53 and MMP-9 were correlated with poor prognosis.