Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Functional polymorphisms in matrix metalloproteinases can increase or decrease the risk of cancer. This study focused on ovarian cancer and investigated how polymorphisms in the coding region of MMP-14 and the promoter region of MMP-2 are related to clinical characteristics including survival.
METHODS:
In 144 patients with ovarian tumours from a Caucasian population, polymorphisms of MMP-14 (
RESULTS:
In these patients, the MMP-14
CONCLUSIONS:
In ovarian cancer, the MMP-14
Background
In cancer, various matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role in progression and metastasis [1]. MMPs are highly conserved proteases, which apart from their activity in pathophysiological processes such as cancer, inflammation and wound healing are also important in physiological processes such as reproduction [2]. In general, cancer prognosis is worse if MMPs are found to be overexpressed in primary and metastatic tumours [3, 4].
In this study, we focused on MMP-14, a membrane-bound collagenase and the main activator of MMP-2, and MMP-2 itself, a gelatinase. A number of studies in ovarian cancer indicate that MMP-14 and MMP-2 expression as determined with immunohistochemistry are independent prognosticators, whereas other studies report that their predictive value is limited [5, 6]. Molecular MMP-14 and MMP-2 mRNA data have revealed decreased survival for advanced-stage patients expressing high levels of mRNA [3, 7].
In 2001, the functional impact of polymorphisms in the promoter region of the MMP-2 gene was described. In particular, the C
There are conflicting research results on polymorphisms in the MMP-14 gene, with some researchers reporting increased or reduced cancer risk, and others reporting poor clinical outcomes [11, 12, 13] Variants such as
In contrast to the MMP-2 polymorphisms, these polymorphisms in the MMP-14 gene are located in the coding region, where MMP-14
Most of these studies were performed among Asian populations on types of cancer that are often caused by infection, such as cervical and hepatocellular cancer, and cancer types in which smoking is a major risk factor, such as head-and-neck cancer and lung cancer.
Little information is available on MMP-14 and MMP-2 polymorphisms in other cancer types and among Caucasian populations. In several studies on breast cancer, MMP-2 polymorphisms were found to influence risk and clinical characteristics [14, 15]. In a Dutch study on COPD, the MMP-2
To our knowledge, there has been no previous study on these polymorphisms in ovarian cancer, which is not caused by infection, smoking or alcohol abuse.
In the present study, based on a regional Dutch cohort with five-year follow-up, polymorphisms in the coding region of MMP-14
Patients and methods
Clinical data
From the Regional Oncological Gynaecological Registry (ROGY) in the southern Netherlands, all ovarian tumours diagnosed between 1 January 2007 and 31 December 2008 were selected. After excluding metastases from other primary tumours, 148 patients remained, all diagnosed with a primary ovarian tumour at Elisabeth-TweeSteden Hospital in Tilburg, Amphia Hospital in Breda, Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven or Jeroen Bosch Hospital in Den Bosch, all in the Netherlands. These patients were followed until 1 June 2013. In the case of four patients, no tumour tissue was found in the archived paraffin-embedded material, leaving 144 patients for analysis.
All 144 patients underwent a laparotomy with staging or debulking when indicated by clinical stage and frozen-section results. Debulking surgery was found to be complete if no residual tumour tissue was found at the completion of surgery. In those patients with FIGO stage Ia or Ib ovarian cancer with differentiation grade I, no adjuvant therapy was given. All the other patients received six courses of adjuvant platinum-based chemotherapy.
Data collection from the ROGY registry was prospe-ctive. Additional clinical and follow-up data were extracted from the patients’ medical records. The FIGO stage (I to IV) was categorized according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. Serum levels of CA-125 were determined preoperatively.
Histopathological data
All histopathological results and previous slides were reviewed. Histology and differentiation grade were categorized according to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, the grade being assigned according to the observer’s impression of both architectural and cytological features. The clear-cell histological subtype was excluded from this assignment, as these carcinomas are poorly differentiated by definition (Grade III) [17].
DNA extraction and analysis
From paraffin-embedded tissue, collected at the time of surgery or biopsy, 10
Patient characteristics
Patient characteristics
*Brenner tumor.
Immunohistochemistry was performed as previously described from the same paraffin-embedded blocks [2]. Sections (3
Statistical analysis
Descriptive statistics were used to describe patient characteristics. For polymorphisms and immunohistochemistry, Spearman correlation coefficients were determined. For the advanced-stage patients, recurrence-free and overall survival were analysed with Cox-regression and Kaplan-Meier curves were plotted. All statistical analyses were performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences 23.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).
Results
Characteristics of the patients included in this study are summarised in Table 1. This cohort is a representative sample of the patients with an ovarian tumour from our region. The follow-up was at least five years. Figure 1 shows an example of immunohistochemical staining with conventional hematoxylin-eosin staining, and MMP-14 and MMP-2 immunostaining.
Results of polymorphisms of MMP-14 and MMP-2
Results of polymorphisms of MMP-14 and MMP-2
Example of immunohistochemical staining of a serous borderline ovarian tumour with A 
Polymorphisms were identified by using two inner and two outer primers for this tetra-primer ARMS PCR. In a homozygous sample, one of the primers will result in a shorter specific product and the other product will not bind. The outer primer will result in a longer product. In a heterozygous sample, both inner primers will result in a product, so eventually three bands will be visible on the gel for this tumour sample. The inner primers for the two alleles are designed to be placed at different distances from the polymorphism in order to result in products of different length. Thus, the position of the bands on the gel indicate that patient’s specific polymorphism. Table 2 shows the frequencies of the SNPs for the different polymorphisms. The result of the MMP-14
Polymorphism description, minimal allele frequency (MAF) per population and MAF this study
Polymorphism description, minimal allele frequency (MAF) per population and MAF this study
MAF
Spearman correlation coefficients did not show correlations between MMP-14 and MMP-2 polymorphisms and clinicopathological characteristics, such as subtype, stage, result of debulking surgery, platinum sensitivity and hepatic and lymphogenic metastasis. The only parameter that showed a trend for the MMP-2
Kaplan-Meier curves for recurrence-free and overall survival for MMP-14 
Table 4 shows the results of the Cox regression analysis of the recurrence-free and overall survival data in advanced-stage patients for the different alleles. In general, polymorphisms can be analysed in a dominant model (CT+TT/CC or GA+AA/GG) or in a co-dominant model (CT/CC or GA/GG). Because the frequencies in our sample of TT for the MMP-14 and MMP-2 polymorphisms and AA for the MMP-14
Median recurrence-free and overall survival in months (minimum and maximum) per polymorphism and Cox regression analysis for recurrence-free and overall survival
Median recurrence-free and overall survival in months (minimum and maximum) per polymorphism and Cox regression analysis for recurrence-free and overall survival
HR
Most previous studies on MMP-14 and MMP-2 polymorphisms were conducted among Asian populations and showed that such polymorphisms influence the susceptibility to, and clinical characteristics of, types of cancer including cervical cancer, oral squamous cell carcinoma, head and neck cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma [9, 11, 12, 13, 22, 23]. These polymorphisms are known to reduce or increase MMP expression, depending on the haplotype [8].
In this study, which was the first to examine the influence of MMP-14 and MMP-2 polymorphisms in a cohort of Caucasian women with ovarian tumours, it was found that MMP-14
For MMP-2 polymorphisms in the promoter region
Because all patients showed TT genotype, MMP-14
The MMP-14
As the patients’ tumour tissue was examined in this study, we were unable to discern between germline and somatic mutations. With polymorphisms in promoter regions and a correlation with susceptibility, germline mutations are more probable. With polymorphisms in coding regions, both somatic and germline mutations may be important. More research on this aspect is needed. There is also a need for studies in a larger patient sample size, because with the current sample size no definitive conclusions can be drawn. Currently, in ovarian cancer there is insufficient knowledge of the functional effect of these polymorphisms in the MMP-14 gene.
Conclusion
This study on polymorphisms in the coding region of MMP-14 and the promoter region of the MMP-2 gene in ovarian tumours is the first study in a Caucasian population. A hazard ratio of 2.09 (CI 1.00–4.35,
Footnotes
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Joanna IntHout for statistical advice and Lisenka Vissers for her expert advice on genetics.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
List of abbreviations
Supplementary data
Supplementary
PCR conditions
Polymorphisms
Primer sequence
Tm
Amplicon size
MMP-14
Forward inner primer (T allele):
80
177 bp (T allele)
ATGCCCCTCGTGTTTTCTGCCCCAGGGTGT
Reverse inner primer (C allele):
80
102 bp (C allele)
GGCATCTTGGTGGGGAACCCTGACGCG
Forward outer primer:
80
222 bp (from two outer primers)
TGCCCATCTGTCTGTCCTTCCGTCCCCG
Reverse outer primer:
80
AACATCTCCCCTCGGAGCATGGCCACGG
MMP-14
Forward inner primer (G allele):
77
190 bp (G allele)
GGATGGACACGGAGAATTTTGTGCTGCACG
Reverse inner primer (A allele):
81
105 bp (A allele)
GTTGCTGGATGCCCCGGCGGTCATCCTT
Forward outer primer:
79
237 bp (from two outer primers)
TCGAGCATTCCAGTGACCCCTCGGCCAT
Reverse outer primer:
79
GATAGAGGCAGGGGCAGGTTGGCAGGGG
MMP-2 –735
Forward inner primer (C allele):
77
146 bp (C allele)
TATCTCATCCTGTGACCGAGAATGCGGCCC
Reverse inner primer (T allele):
80
243 bp (T allele)
ACCTGCTGGGCTGCACTCCCAGGCGA
Forward outer primer:
78
333 bp (from two outer primers)
TGCCATGGCACTGGTGGGTGCTTCCTTT
Reverse outer primer:
78
GGAAATAGAGCAGTCAGGGGCCCCGCGT
MMP-2 –1306
Forward inner primer (T allele):
77
161 bp (T allele)
ATTCCCCATATTCCCCACCCAGCACGCT
Reverse inner primer (C allele):
68
185 bp (C allele)
TGAGCTGAGACCTGAAGAGCTAAAGAGTTG
Forward outer primer:
72
288 bp (from two outer primers)
GTCCTTACTGACCCCTCCAGCTCCATCC
Reverse outer primer:
72
ATAAGCTGTGATGGGGAACTCCAGCAGG
