Plasma TIMP1 level is a prognostic factor in patients with liver metastases.
TIMP1 (tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases 1) regulates extracellular matrix turnover and also promotes cell growth and has anti-apoptotic activity, which promotes malignant processes in tumor tissue. The aim of our study was to evaluate the relation of plasma TIMP1 protein levels with prognosis in patients with liver metastases, with particular regard to possible early-prediction of recurrence of the disease.


METHODS
We studied a group of 87 patients with metastatic liver disease (mostly from colorectal cancer) who underwent surgery for liver metastases, and assessed their preoperative plasma TIMP1 levels. These levels were evaluated according to prognosis. Furthermore, we measured plasma TIMP1 in the post-operative period and tried to relate the changes with the diagnosis of relapse.


RESULTS
We found preoperative plasma TIMP1 levels to be related to overall survival in the group of all patients with metastatic liver disease (p=0.0047), with a higher level being associated with an adverse outcome; the cut-off value was set at 165 ng/ml. This applied to all patients, regardless of the type of surgery. Assessment of the post-operative dynamics of TIMP1 was not found to be statistically significant to indicate disease recurrence.


CONCLUSIONS
We found there to be a relationship between higher plasma levels of TIMP1 and an adverse prognosis in patients with liver metastases. The assessment of plasma TIMP1 levels could help the detection of patients with worse outcome.
Department of Medical Chemistry and Biochemistry, The Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.
Karin
K
Bunatova
Martin
M
Pesta
Vlastimil
V
Kulda
Ondrej
O
Topolcan
Jindra
J
Vrzalova
Alan
A
Sutnar
Vladislav
V
Treska
Ladislav
L
Pecen
Vaclav
V
Liska
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000401:mortality / Q000556:secondary / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000097:blood / Q000401:mortality; D011379:Prognosis; D019715:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 / Q000097:blood*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C560822:TIMP1 protein, human; D019715:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1