Expression of MMP-2 and MMP-3 in human non-small cell lung cancer and its significance

Objective To investigate the expression of MMP-2 and MMP-3 in human non-small cell lung cancer and to evaluate the relationship between their expression and their clinicopathological features. Methods The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-3 was detected in 45 patients with NSCLC and 20 para-cancerous normal lung tissues by immunohistochemical method, and the results were compared. Results The expression of MMP-2 and MMP-3 in NSCLC tissues was significantly higher than that in para-cancerous nomal lung tissues (P0.05); The positive expression of MMP-2 was associated with TNM stage ,pathological differentiation and lymph node metastasis(P0.05). The expression of MMP-3 in NSCLC tissues was not associated with that of their clinicopathological features (P0.05). Conclusion MMP-2 and MMP-3 ave good tumor markers. The expression of MMP-2 is closely correlated with the invasion and metastasis of lung carcinoma. The expression of MMP-3 may be not a critical factor which affects the invasion and metastasis of lung carcinoma.