Expression and significance of β-catenin and MMP-7 in esophagus squamous cell carcinoma

Objective Through observing the changes of expression ofβ-catenin and MMP-7 in esophageal cancer,to analyze the correlation between the expressions and pathological classification,infiltration depth,metastasis of the carcinoma in oder to provide theoretical basis for evaluating the infiltration,metastasis of the carcinoma and the prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer.Methods The expressions of β-catenin and MMP-7 were detected by immunohistochemisty in 55 cases of esophagus squamous cell carcinoma tissues and 15 cases of normal esophagus tissues.Results The abnormal expression rates of β-catenin in esophagus squamous cell carcinoma tissues and normal esophagus tissues were 61.82% and 6.67% respectively,and abnormal expression rates of MMP-7 were 69.09% and 13.33% respectively,there were significant differences between the two kinds of tissues(P0.05).The abnormal expression of β-catenin in esophageal carcinoma tissue was closely correlated with cell differentiation degree and lymph node metastasis(P0.05),however,which was not related to the patients' sex,age and infiltration degree(P0.05).The abnormal expression of MMP-7 in esophageal carcinoma tissue was closely correlated with cell differentiation degree and the depth of lymph node metastasis and infiltration(P0.05),however,which was not related to patients' sex and age(P0.05).The abnormal expression of β-catenin was related with that of MMP-7 at certain extent(P0.05).Conclusion The positive expression of β-catenin and MMP-7 in esophagus squamous cell carcinoma tissues plays an important role in pathogenesis,development and metastasis of esophageal carcinoma.