The Level of Serum MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in 60 Cases with Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma and its Clinical Significance

[Purpose] To investigate the level of matrix metalloproteinase 9(MMP-9) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 1(TIMP-1) in oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC) and its significance. [Methods] The level of serum MMP-9 and TIMP-1 in 60 cases with OSCC preoperation, 26 cases with atypical hyperplasia of oral preoperation, and 30 healthy control was examined by ELISA. [Results] The level of serum MMP-9 in OSCC (21.67±4.21 ng/ml) was significantly higher than that in atypical hyperplasia of oral (15.43±2.35ng/ml) and healthy controls (11.29±4.78ng/ml) (P0.05). There wasn’t significantly difference in TIMP-1 level and MMP-9/ TIMP-1 value among the 3 groups. The level of serum MMP-9 in patients with lymph node metastasis was higher than that in patients without lymph node metastasis with significant difference (24.71±4.08ng/ml vs 17.68±3.86ng/ml; t=6.77,P0.01), and serum MMP-9 in patients with tumor diameter3cm was higher than that in patients with tumor diameter≤3cm (24.13±4.13 ng/ml vs 18.85±4.31 ng/ml; t=4.84,P0.01). [Conclusion] The level of serum MMP-9 is significantly increased in cases with OSCC. Detection serum MMP-9 might be helpful to predict occurrence and metastasis of OSCC.