Expression and clinical significance of E-cadherin and MMP7 in carcinoma of gallbladder

Purpose To detect the expression of MMP7 and E-cadherin and to evaluate the relationships of their expression with invasion, metastasis and prognosis in carcinoma of gallbladder. Methods Immunohistochemical S-P method was used to analyze the expression of MMP7 and E-cadherin in 63 cases of gallbladder carcinoma. Results The positive rate of MMP7 in carcinoma of gallbladder was prominently increased. MMP7 expression was correlative with TNM stage, liver invasion and lymph node metastasis (P0.05). The positive rate of E-cadherin was decreased in gallbladder carcinoma. E-cadherin expression was correlative with TNM stage, lymph node metastasis and nerve infiltration (P0.05). The spearman correlation analysis suggested that the expression of MMP7 and E-cadherin was negatively correlated (P0.05). The survival analysis indicated that the expession of MMP7, TNM stage and nerve infiltration were associated with survival rate of post-operation. The expression of MMP7 and nerve infiltration may be a prognostic factor of gallbladder carcinoma by Cox regression. Conclusions MMP7 and E-cadherin play important roles in the progression of carcinoma of gallbladder. The expression of MMP7 and E-cadherin in carcinoma of gallbladder has negative correlation. MMP7 may be a useful prognostic marker for patients with advanced gallbladder carcinoma, and its detection may be useful for selecting patients for anti-matrix metalloproteinase therapy.