Expressions of CD151 and MMP-7 in breast cancer tissue microarray and their significance

Objective To evaluate the expressions of CD151 and MMP-7 (matrix metalloproteinase-7) in human breast cancer and their relations with the occurrence development, and metastasis and prognosis of breast cancer.Methods By using immunohistochemical SP method, the expressions of CD151 and MMP-7 proteins in breast cancer tissue microarray (TMA) were tested. Their correlations with clinicopathological features were analyzed. The relationship of the two proteins was also analyzed. Comparison between qualitative data was performed using Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis test and Kappa test.Results The positive rates of CD151 and MMP-7 expressions were 0.0%(0/39)and 10.3%(4/39)in normal breast tissue, 33.3%(10/30)and 40.0%(12/30)in tissues of carcinoma in situ, and 59.0%(59/100)and 70.0%(70/100)in invasive breast cancer tissues, respectively. The differences of the two kinds of protein expression rates among the three groups were statistically significant (χ2 =41.276 , P=0.000;χ2 =41.801, P=0.000). The expressions of the two proteins in breast cancer tissues weren't associated with patient's age and histological type (P0.050). But they significantly related with the differentiation degree of cancer tissue, lymph node metastasis and TNM staging (P0.050). Furthermore, CD151 expression significantly related with tumor size and ER/PR expression(P0.050). There was a positive correlation between CD151 and MMP-7 expressions ( Kappa=0.418,P0.010). CD151 and MMP-7 dual-positive patients had higher rates of recurrence and metastasis than the control group (χ2 =6.159,P=0.013).Conclusions The expressions of CD151 and MMP-7 were over expressed in breast carcinoma, which suggests that the two proteins are related to carcinogenesis, development, invasion and metastasis. Joint detection of the two makers can be used to determine the biological behavior and prognosis of breast cancer. In particular, the detection of CD151 would be more valuable for patients with ER (-) / PR (-) breast cancer.