Expression and significance of COX-2, VEGF and MMP-9 in human gastric carcinoma

Objective To study the expression of cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2), endothelial growth factor(VEGF) Matrix Metallo-Proteinase-9(MMP-9) in gastric carcinoma and it′s possible clinical significance.MethodsThe expression of COX-2, VEGF and MMP-9 were studied by immunohistochemistry SABC method in 45 gastric carcinoma specimen and 30 normal gastric tissues as control.The average light density was assayed by the expression of COX-2, VEGF and MMP-9, and the statistic software was used to analyze the clinical correlated information.Results The average light density(OD)of COX-2, VEGF and MMP-9 in gastric carcinoma were(19.85±7.34),(134.67±13.11),(18.81±7.56) respectively, which were significantly higher than those in the normal gastric tissues(12.49±4.87),(83.89±8.74),(11.46±4.82), P 0.01.The expression of COX-2, VEGF and MMP-9 was associated with the diameter of tumor TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis(P 0.05), but negative correlated to age, gender, tumor position, cellular differentiation and histological type.The expression of COX-2 was positively correlated to VEGF and MMP-9 respectively(γ=0.473, P=0.005, γ=0.437, P =0.001), but the expression of VEGF was negative correlated to MMP-9(γ=0.142, P =0.4670.05).Conclusion COX-2 may induce the expression of VEGF and MMP-9 to promote the formation of angiogenesis and the invasion and the metastasis of gastric carcinoma.