Expression of MMP-2 in Gastric Cancer and Its Clinical Significance

To study the expression of matrix Metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) in gastric carcinoma and its relationship with cancer cell invasion and metastasis, the expression of MMP-2 in 46 cases of gastric carcinoma and 15 cases of normal gastric tissue was detected by SP immunochemical technique. The relations between the expression of MMP-2 and the cancer invasion and metastasis were analyzed by software SPSS 10. The results showed that the expression of MMP-2 in 15 cases of normal gastric tissue was negative. The positive rate of MMP-2 expression in gastric cancer was 71.7%. It was significantly higher than that in the normal gastric tissues. The expression of MMP-2 in gastric cancer was correlated with lymph node metastasis, clinical stage and depth of invasion(P0.05). No correlation was found between the increased expression of MMP-2 and the tumor size and differentiation of gastric carcinoma (P0.05). The results suggest that the over-expression of MMP-2 in gastric carcinoma may play a crucial role in gastric cancer invasion and metastasis. It indicates that MMP-2 may be a marker in evaluating prognosis of gastric carcinoma and provide a target for chemo-preventive therapy.