Serum levels of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) in colorectal cancer patients.
OBJECTIVE
Expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1 in colorectal cancer tissue is known to be related to disease progression; however, the clinical significance of measuring the blood level of TIMP-1, which we evaluate herein, has not yet been clarified.


METHODS
The serum level of TIMP-1 was measured by a one-step enzyme immunoassay in 123 patients who underwent resection of primary colorectal cancer.


RESULTS
An elevated level of serum TIMP-1 was associated with advanced Dukes' stage ( P = 0.03), greater diameter of the primary tumor ( P = 0.03), more lymph node metastasis ( P = 0.04), and liver metastasis ( P < 0.001). There was a weakly positive correlation between the serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level and the serum TIMP-1 level. In patients who underwent potentially curative resection, the disease-free survival was not different between those with a high TIMP-1 level (>=203.5 ng/ml, n = 32) and those with a low TIMP-1 level (<203.5 ng/ml, n = 66, P = 0.62). In patients with Dukes' stage D cancer who underwent noncurative resection, the survival times were not different between those with a high TIMP-1 level ( n = 13) and those with a low TIMP-1 level ( n = 10, P = 0.20).


CONCLUSIONS
Elevated levels of serum TIMP-1 reflect the extent of colorectal cancer, without a close correlation with the serum CEA level. These findings suggest that measuring the serum TIMP-1 level would not help to predict the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer.
Ishida
Hideyuki
H
Department of Surgery, Saitama Medical Center, Saitama Medical School, 1981 Kamoda, Kawagoe, 350-8550, Saitama, Japan.
Murata
Nobuo
N
Hayashi
Yoichi
Y
Tada
Masakazu
M
Hashimoto
Daijo
D
D000368:Aged; D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen / Q000097:blood; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000201:enzymology / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D045726:Metalloproteases / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D016019:Survival Analysis; D019714:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases / Q000097:blood* / Q000378:metabolism
D002272:Carcinoembryonic Antigen; D019714:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases; D045726:Metalloproteases