Abstract:

Objective To investigate the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9（MMP-9） in gastric cancer and evaluate its relation ship with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of gastric cancer. Methods The expression of MMP-9 in 101 gastric cancer patients was determined by immunohistochemistry. The relationship between MMP-9 with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis in gastric cancer was analyzed. The patients were followed up and recurrencefree survival （RFS） and overall survival （OS） were estimated using the KaplanMeier method, while factors influencing prognosis were tested by Cox proportional harzard model. Results Overexpression rate of MMP-9 was 54.5％ of gastric cancer samples, higher than 15.5% of adjacent normal tissue（P＜0.001）. The expression of MMP-9 was closely related to tumor size， tumor site， tumor invasion， lymph node metastasis and clinical stage in gastric cancer samples （P＜0.05）. The median RFS and OS of 101 patients were 28.0 and 35.0 months， respectively. Moreover， the patients with MMP-9 lower expression had better RFS and OS than those with MMP-9 overexpression （63.0 vs. 11.0 months， 65.0 vs. 17.0 months； P＜0.001）. The multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression analysis of prognostic factors for RFS and OS showed that the expression of MMP-9, tumor size, lymphnode metastasis were independent factors for prognosis of gastric cancer. Conclusion The expression of MMP-9 is correlated with tumor invasion and metastasis， and it can be a powerful molecular marker to predict the progrosis of gastric cancer.