Expression of MMP-2 and nm23 in invasive ductal carcinoma of breast

Objective To study the expression of nm23 and MMP-2 in breast cancer and their relationship.Methods The expression of nm23 and MMP-2 in 86 cases breast cancer tissues and 20 normal tissues was examined immunohistochemical staining.Results The positive rate of nm23 was significantly lower in breast cancer than that of normal breast tissue(59.3% vs 90.0%,P0.05),whereas the positive rate of MMP-2 was significantly higher in breast cancer than that of normal breast tissue(73.2% vs 15.0%,P0.05).nm23 expression in breast cancer with lymph node metastasis,histological grade and clinical stage,but not with patient age and tumor size(P0.05).MMP-2 expression in breast cancer with lymph node metastasis, histological grade and clinical stage (P0.05),but no with patient age and tumor size(P0.05).The positive rates between nm23 and MMP-2 were correlated in breast cancer(r=-0.447,P0.01).Conclusion The decreased expression of nm23 and over-expression of MMP-2 might be important biological markers for malignant transformation and invasion and metastasis of breast cancer.The combined detection of nm23 and MMP-2 has positive effects on predicting the invasion and metastasis in breast cancer.