Expression of Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 and Its Clinical Significance in Invasive Carcinoma of Cervix

Objective:Expression and clinical significance of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) in early invasive carcinoma of cervix were investigated to explore its clinical significance.Methods:The expression of TIMP-1, microvessel density labeled by CD 34and proliferation index of cancer cells labeled by Ki-67 in 75 cases of early invasive carcinoma of cervix (ICC group), 18 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasm (CIN group) and 15 cases of normal cervical epithelium (control group) remote from tumor were detected by immunohistochemistry SP method.Results:TIMP-1 was mainly expressed in the cellular membrane and/or cytoplasm in tumor cells, whereas expression of Ki-67 was mainly confined to the nuclei, and that of CD 34 to the vascular epithelial cells in tumor stroma. The positive rates of expression of TIMP-1 did not increase remarkably from control to CIN, and then to ICC group (P0.05). In ICC group, the expression of TIMP-1 correlated with FIGO staging, histological grading, pelvic lymph node metastasis and stroma infiltration (P0.05), but not correlated with patients age, histological types, intravascular infiltration, Ki-67 expression and microvessel density (P0.05). In the cases with FIGO staging Ⅱ, histological grading Ⅲ, pelvic lymph node metastasis and deeper stroma infiltration, the positive rate of expression of TIMP-1 was significantly lower than that in those without the conditions mentioned above (P0.05).Conclusion:Lower expression of TIMP-1 may play an important role during cancer invasion and metastasis in invasive carcinoma of cervix. Detection expression of TIMP-1 may be of value in further understanding the biological behavior and predicting the prognosis of cervical carcinoma.