title: Tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinase expression in human breast cancer: TIMP-3 is associated with adjuvant endocrine therapy success.
abstract: Tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinase (TIMPs) may be involved in tumour growth, apoptosis, angiogenesis, invasion, and the development of metastases. This study has evaluated the association of the expression levels of the TIMP forms 1, 2, 3, and 4, measured by quantitative real-time RT-PCR, with classical clinicopathological characteristics, ie age, menopausal status, tumour size, histological grade, number of involved lymph nodes, and steroid hormone receptor status, and with disease progression and treatment sensitivity in 273 breast cancer patients. The mRNA levels of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 were not associated with any known clinicopathological tumour feature. TIMP-3 and TIMP-4 levels were significantly higher in steroid hormone receptor-positive samples, although the levels of TIMP-4 were much lower than those of the other TIMPs. Only TIMP-3 predicted relapse-free survival (RFS) time differently depending on post-surgical treatment as, in particular, the interaction of TIMP-3 with endocrine therapy (p = 0.008, HR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.09-0.69) contributed significantly to RFS in multivariate Cox regression analysis. In subgroup analyses, the 107 patients treated with tamoxifen differed greatly in prognosis after dichotomization by the median TIMP-3 level (p = 0.0003). Thus, high tumour levels of the matrix metalloproteinases inhibitor and pro-apoptotic factor TIMP-3 are associated with successful tamoxifen treatment of patients with breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Endocrinology, University Medical Center Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands. p.span@ace.umc.nl
authors.forename: Paul N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Span
authors.forename: Raija L P
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.forename: Peggy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Manders
authors.forename: Vivianne C G
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Tjan-Heijnen
authors.forename: Joop J T M
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Heuvel
authors.forename: Louk V A M
authors.initials: LV
authors.lastname: Beex
authors.forename: C G J
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Sweep
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D017024:Chemotherapy, Adjuvant; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D013629:Tamoxifen / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D019717:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019714:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases / Q000378:metabolism; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D018931:Antineoplastic Agents, Hormonal; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D019717:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-3; D019714:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinases; D013629:Tamoxifen