Abstract
Background: The role of the single matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in the metastatic process of squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) is still obscure. Materials and Methods: The MMP-9 expression was described immunohistochemically in 105 patients (40-79 years of age, mean: 57.84 years; 84 male, 21 female) suffering from oropharyngeal cancer (22x T1, 31x T2, 24x T3, 28x T4) with different neck stages (41x N0, 6x N1, 54x N2, 4x N3 neck). Results: A significant correlation between MMP-9 expression and T stage (p<0.05), N stage (r=0.55, p<0.01) and UICC stage (r=0.55, p<0.01) was revealed. Most remarkable was the high MMP-9 expression with simultaneously high UICC stages. Conclusion: The results give further indication that MMP-9 plays a role in the metastatic behavior of oropharyngeal SCC. It will be a project for the near future to create a standardized evaluation score of immuno-histological stainings to allow valid comparison of the results and published data.
Footnotes
- Received April 15, 2005.
- Accepted June 28, 2005.
- Copyright© 2005 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved