Correlation of heparanase expression with invasion,metastasis and angiogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

OBJECTIVE To investigate the expression of heparanase and its correlation with the invasion,metastasis and angiogenesis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma(NPC).METHODS Heparanase mRNA and protein was detected by reverse transcriptionPCR(RT-PCR)and immunohistochemical staining method in 50 human NPC specimens and 20 normal nasopharyngeal tissues.Microvessel density(MVD)was measured by immunohistochemical staining method with CD34 monoclonal antibody.The correlation of Heparanase mRNA expression with the clinicopathological characteristics and MVD in NPC were studied.RESULTS The positive rate of heparanase mRNA and protein in the cancerous tissues was 60.0%(30/50)and 56.0%(28/50)respectively,while that in normal nasopharyngeal tissues was 0%(0/20).The positive rate of heparanase mRNA was 25.00%(2/8) in patients with stage I,46.15%(6/13)with stage II,68.42%(13/19)with stage III and 90.00%(9/10)with stage IV.The positive expression of heparanase mRNA in T1+T2 and T3+T4 with neck lymph node and distant metastasis was 63.64%(7/11)and 90.00%(18/20) respectively,while that in T1+T2 and T3+T4 without metastasis was 23.08%(3/13)and 33.33%(2/6) respectively.The positive expression of heparanase mRNA was correlated with the clinical stage,the neck lymph node and distant metastasis in NPC(P0.05).MVD in heparanase mRNA positive group(43.86± 4.93)was significantly higher than that in heparanase mRNA negative group(27.41±2.67,P 0.01).CONCLUSION Heparanase may promote the invasion,metastasis and angiogenesis of NPC.Heparanase may be a possible target for anticancer drug development.