PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - ELEFTHERIOS VAIRAKTARIS AU - ZOE SEREFOGLOU AU - CHRISTOS YAPIJAKIS AU - ANTONIS VYLLIOTIS AU - EMEKA NKENKE AU - SPYRIDOULA DERKA AU - STAVROS VASSILIOU AU - DIMITRIOS AVGOUSTIDIS AU - FRIEDRICH W. NEUKAM AU - EFSTRATIOS PATSOURIS TI - High Gene Expression of Matrix Metalloproteinase-7 is Associated with Early Stages of Oral Cancer DP - 2007 Jul 01 TA - Anticancer Research PG - 2493--2498 VI - 27 IP - 4B 4099 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/27/4B/2493.short 4100 - http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/27/4B/2493.full SO - Anticancer Res2007 Jul 01; 27 AB - Background: In the light of the recently found contribution of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) to oral oncogenesis, the correlation of MMP-7 with risk for oral cancer was investigated. Materials and Methods: The MMP-7-181A/G polymorphism in 159 German and Greek patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and 120 healthy controls of equivalent gender and ethnicity was studied. Results: The detected carrier frequency of the high expression G allele was significantly higher in patients compared to controls (74.8% versus 61.7%, p=0.0257). This significant difference was more pronounced in patients with early stages of cancer and absent in those with advanced stages. A/G heterozygotes have a double relative risk (OR 2.07, 95%, CI 1.17-3.67) of developing early stages of oral cancer than low expression A/A homozygotes. Conclusion: MMP-7 gene expression is associated with increased risk only for early stages of oral cancer, possibly due to the inhibitory effect of MMP-7 in angiogenesis. Copyright© 2007 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved