title: Evaluation of heparanase and matrix metalloproteinase-9 in patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma.
abstract: Elevated heparanase and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9, frequently found in human cancer, is a major cause of degradation of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and basement membrane (BM), thus facilitating tumor cell migration and invasion. Although a lot of work has been done, the role of heparanase and MMP-9 has not been delineated in skin cancer progression. The purpose of this study was to do such an exploration. To investigate the role of heparanase and MMP-9 in cutaneous malignant melanoma (CMM) development, we performed immunohistochemical analysis to detect the alternation of these two factors in paraffin-embedded biopsy specimens of normal skin, junctional nevi and CMM. It is interesting to note that the expression profile of heparanase and MMP-9 was similar. Contrary to negative staining in normal skin, overexpression of heparanase and cytoplasmic MMP-9 was observed in as many as 70% of CMM, whereas only 10% of the junctional nevi exhibited faint staining (P = 0.0005, P = 0.0000). Considering the lymph node (LN) metastasis, the expression of the two factors is significantly higher in LN-positive lesions than that in LN-negative lesions (P = 0.0295, P = 0.0013). Meanwhile, there was positive correlation between the expression of MMP-9 and heparanase (r = 0.689, P = 0.003). The first expression of MMP-9 and heparanase occurs at benign lesions. However, the significantly increased expression in advanced CMM stages, particularly in LN-positive metastasis lesions, might synergistically contribute to degradation of ECM and BM, therefore promoting carcinogenesis and metastasis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, People's Hospital of Zhengzhou, Zhengzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yanhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Liyong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jianbin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005966:Glucuronidase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008545:Melanoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000556:secondary; D008875:Middle Aged; D009506:Nevus / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D000099175:Heparanase
chemical_list: D005966:Glucuronidase; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9; D000099175:Heparanase