Objective:Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been suggested to play an important role in tumor invasion and metastasis because they degrade a wide range of components of the extracellular matrix. In the present study, we analyzed the expression of MMP-1 and MMP-2 proteins in patients with uterine leiomyosarcoma.
Methods:MMP-1 and MMP-2 expression was investigated by immunohistochemistry from paraffinembedded issue sections in 21 patients with uterine leiomyosarcoma (LMS). The immunohistochemical findings were correlated with different clinicopathologic characteristics of the patients.
Results:MMP-1 was expressed in 86% and MMP-2 was expressed in 48% of uterine LMS. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between vascular space involvement and MMP-2 expression (P = .05) and between age and MMP-2 expression, with patients over 50 years old having significantly more frequent MMp-2-positive tumors than patients younger than 50 years (P = .006). The relationship between MMP-2 expression and tumor stage and recurrence disease did not reach statistical significance. A trend towards prolonged disease-free survival was observed in women with MMP-2-negative LMS compared with patients with MMP-2-positive LMS (P = .09). Furthermore, a univariate analysis revealed that early tumor stage (P = .0001), age at diagnosis less than 50 years (P = .02), and the absence of vascular space involvement (P = .04) were associated with longer overall survival.
Conclusion:The statistically significant positive correlation between MMp-2 expression and vascular space involvement as well as the prolonged disease-free survival rate in patients with MMP-2 negative uterine LMS suggest that MMP-2 plays and important role in tumor invasion and metastasis. Further clinical studies with larger numbers of cases need to be performed to verify these findings.
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