title: Application of MMP-7 and MMP-10 in assisting the diagnosis of malignant pleural effusion.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) are proteolytic enzymes that are essentially involved in turnover of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The aim was to investigate the diagnostic value of MMP-7 and MMP-10 as tumor markers in pleural effusion (PE) and evaluate the value of combining MMP-7, MMP-10 and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) assays as diagnostic aids for malignant cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 179 patients with PE (87 malignant and 92 benign) were included in this study. The levels of MMP-7 and MMP-10 were measured using ELISA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Values for MMP-7 and MMP-10 were significantly higher in malignant PE than those in benign PE (P<0.01). Among all variables evaluated, logistic regression found that MMP-7 and MMP-10 were significantly correlated with the presence of malignant disease (P<0.01). Analysis of receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curves showed that the area under the curve of MMP-10 (0.806) was significantly larger than that of MMP-7 (0.771) and CEA (0.789) (P<0.01). With parallel interpretation, the combination of MMP-10 and CEA achieved the higher sensitivity of 94.6%. The combination of MMP-7 and CEA in serial interpretation was able to boost the specificity to 95.7%. The combination of MMP-7, MMP-10 and CEA produced better sensitivity, specificity, PPV and NPV than MMP-7 and MMP-10 alone.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  MMP-7 and MMP-10 in PE may represent helpful adjuncts to conventional diagnostic tools in ruling out malignancy as a probable diagnosis, thus guiding the selection of patients who might benefit from further invasive procedures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Transfusion, The First Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China. dayecheng_cmu@yahoo.cn
authors.forename: Daye
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Yun-Hui
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D053506:Matrix Metalloproteinase 10 / Q000378:metabolism*; D020783:Matrix Metalloproteinase 7 / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D016066:Pleural Effusion, Malignant / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000209:etiology; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D053506:Matrix Metalloproteinase 10; C060932:MMP7 protein, human; D020783:Matrix Metalloproteinase 7