Division of Clinical Research, First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
Department of Pathology, First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin Province, China.
Dis Markers. 2020 Sep 14;2020:8831466. doi: 10.1155/2020/8831466. eCollection 2020.
Degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM), an essential step in tumour invasion and metastasis, is mainly dependent on the activities of both matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). This study aimed to explore whether expression of MMP-7 and TIMP-1 alone and in combination can be used as a prognostic marker for gastric cancer (GC).
A total of 285 patients who had undergone tumourectomy for GC were included. Gastric tumour tissues were stained immunohistochemically to evaluate expression of MMP-7 and TIMP-1.
Expression of MMP-7 was associated with tumour N stage and neural invasion. Multivariate Cox regression analysis suggested that expression of MMP-7 or TIMP-1 alone cannot serve as an indicator of patient prognosis; however, coexpression of MMP-7 and TIMP-1 was found to be an independent predictive factor of overall survival in patients with GC (HR = 1.74, 95% CI: 1.08-2.80). The results of stratified analysis also showed that the predictive value of MMP-7 and TIMP-1 coexpression was stronger in patients with N3 stage disease and not receiving chemotherapy.
In conclusion, coexpression of MMP-7 and its inhibitor TIMP-1 in gastric tumour tissues is a potential prognostic marker for GC. Greater knowledge of protein expression will lead to new paradigms and possible improvements in therapeutics.
细胞外基质（ECM）的降解是肿瘤侵袭和转移的关键步骤，主要依赖于基质金属蛋白酶（MMPs）和金属蛋白酶组织抑制剂（TIMPs）的活性。本研究旨在探讨 MMP-7 和 TIMP-1 的表达单独或联合是否可用作胃癌（GC）的预后标志物。
共纳入 285 例接受 GC 肿瘤切除术的患者。采用免疫组织化学染色法检测 MMP-7 和 TIMP-1 的表达。
MMP-7 的表达与肿瘤 N 分期和神经浸润有关。多因素 Cox 回归分析表明，MMP-7 或 TIMP-1 的表达均不能作为患者预后的指标；然而，MMP-7 和 TIMP-1 的共表达被发现是 GC 患者总生存的独立预测因素（HR = 1.74，95%CI：1.08-2.80）。分层分析的结果还表明，在未接受化疗的 N3 期疾病患者中，MMP-7 和 TIMP-1 共表达的预测价值更强。
总之，胃癌组织中 MMP-7 及其抑制剂 TIMP-1 的共表达是 GC 的潜在预后标志物。对蛋白表达的更多了解将导致新的治疗模式，并可能改善治疗效果。
