Effect of MMP9 in the Development of Colorectal Cancer Progression

Introduction: Matrix metalloprotease 9 (MMP9) is a group of proteolytic enzymes that mediate breaking down the components of the fibrillar extracellular matrix during tissue rearrangement,physical,biological and pathological conditions such as growth, wound healing, inflammation and tumor progression. To investigate the association of these markers with clinicopathologic features and survival of colorectal cancers(CRC),we examined its expression in colorectal cancer tissues. Material and Methods: The expression of MMP9 in 91 paraffin embedded specimens of colorectal cancer and normal tissue adjacent to the tumor of patients referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Sari,Iran was studied immunohistochemically and the relationship between the clinical data and pathological features were considered,too. Result: 91 samples (43 women and 48 men) were studied including 6 mucinous carcinoma and 88 adenocarcinoma. MMP9 expression was negative and positive in 31 and 66 cases respectively. Expression of MMP9 in normal tissue around the tumor was 5.5%. Our finding revealed that the MMP9 correlated significantly with tumor depth (p-value: 0.033) and metastasis to lymph node (p-value: 0.007). The association of MMP9 expression with the other clinicopathologic factors was not statistically significant (p-value> 0.05). Conclusion: According to this study,the relationship between the expression of MMP9 with lymph node metastasis and depth of tumor was observed. To confirm the result, vast studies with more samples and also with the other matrix metalloproteinase proteases is recommended.