Expression and Significance of COX-2 and MMP-9 in Human Gastric Carcinoma

ObjectiveTo study the expression of cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) and Matrix Metallo Proteinase-9(MMP-9) in gastric carcinoma and its possible clinic significance.MethodsThe expression of COX-2 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 and MMP-9,and the statistic software was used to analyze the clinic correlated information.ResultsThe average light density(OD) of COX-2 and MMP-9 in gastric carcinoma were 19.85±7.34,18.81±7.56 respectively,which were significantly higher than those in the normal gastric tissues(12.49±4.87,11.46±4.82,P0.01).The expression of COX-2 and MMP-9 were associated with the diameter of tumor,TNM stage,lymph node metastasis and distant metastasis(P0.05),but negatively correlated to age,gender,tumor position,cellular differentiation and histological type.The expression of COX-2 was positively correlated to MMP-9(r=0.437,P=0.001).ConclusionCOX-2 may induce the expression of MMP-9 to promote the invasion and the metastasis of gastric carcinoma.