Expression of MMP-9 correlates with lymph node metastasis and prognosis in gallbladder carcinoma.

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of MMP 9 protein expression in primary gallbladder carcinoma(GBC).Methods The immunohistochemical Envision technique was adopted for detecting the MMP 9 protein expression in 46 cases of GBC, 12 cases of chronic cholecystitis and 3 cases of gallbladder adenoma.Results The positive rate of MMP 9 expression in gallbladder carcinoma was 78.26%, and the difference of MMP 9 expression between GBC and gallbladder benign lesions had statistical significance( P 0 001). The positive expression of MMP 9 is correlated with the pathologic differentiation, clinic staging, lymph node metastasis and postoperation survival rate.Conclusion Detecting MMP 9 expression might be served as an objective indicator for lymph node metastatic potency and prognosis in gallbladder carcinoma.