Expression and clinical significance of MMP-3,MMP-9 and TIMP-3 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Objective: To investigate the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 3( MMP-3), matrix metalloproteinase 9( MMP-9) and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase3( TIMP-3) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues, para-tumor tissues and normal esophageal tissues, and analyze the association with clinicopathological features of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Methods: The expression levels of MMP-3,MMP-9 and TIMP-3 were detected by immunohistochemistry in 89 cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues( esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues group),30 cases of the corresponding para-tumor tissues( paratumor tissues group) and 30 cases of normal esophageal tissues( normal esophageal tissues group),and their association with clinicopathologic characteristics of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was analyzed. Results: The positive expression of MMP-3,MMP-9 and TIMP-3 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissues were significantly higher than those in para-tumor tissues and normal esophageal tissues( P 0. 05). No significant difference was observed between para-tumor tissues and normal esophageal tissues( P 0. 05). The expression level of MMP-3,MMP-9 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was not associated with some clinical features such as sex,age,pathological classification( P 0. 05),but associated with depth of invasion,lymphatic metastasis and tumor stages( P 0. 05). The expression level of TIMP-3 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was not associated with some clinical features such as sex,age,pathological classification,depth of invasion( P 0. 05),but associated with lymphatic metastasis and tumor stages( P 0. 05). The expression level of MMP-3 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma was negative correlated with the expression of TIMP-3( r =- 0. 383,P = 0. 000). Conclusion: Detection of MMP-3,MMP-9 and TIMP-3 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma might be helpful to early diagnosis and judge prognosis.