The Expression and its Significance of COX-2 and MMP-9 in Gastric Carcinoma

Objective To investigate the expression of cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) and matrixmetalloproteinase9(MMP-9) in gastric carcinoma and study their significance. Methods Expression of COX-2 and MMP-9 were examined with immunohistochemical technique for specimens from 45 cases of gastric carcinoma and for sourrounding normal tissue from 22 cases. Results The positive rates of COX-2 and MMP-9 in gastric carcinoma were higher significantly than in the normal tissue(P0.05). There was no significant correlation between the positive incidence of COX-2 and MMP-9 expression and the age and sex of patient(P0.05)q2,but there was significant correlation between it and the differentiation of tumor cells lymph node metastasis and TMN staging(P0.05). Conclusion The expression of COX-2 and MMP-9 are closely correlated with the biological behavior of gastric carcinoma. They can be used as an important marker for reflecting the gastric carcinoma invasiveness, metastasis and prognosis.