title: [The expression level and clinical significance of MMP-7 protein in peripheral blood in the patients with lung cancer].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Matrix metalloproteinase 7 (MMP-7), also known as matrilysin, is a member of the MMP family. The objectives of this study were to test MMP-7 protein levels in the peripheral blood of lung cancer patients and healthy control subjects and to determine their corresponding clinical significance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Peripheral blood samples were obtained from 114 lung cancer patients and 100 healthy control subjects. MMP-7 protein levels in the plasma were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The plasma protein levels of MMP-7 in lung cancer patients (median=0.72 ng/mL) were significantly higher than those in healthy control subjects (median=0.30 ng/mL)(P<0.001). When the cutoff of MMP-7 protein level was set at 0.56 ng/mL, the sensitivity and specificity of detecting lung cancer were 62.3% and 76.0%, respectively. However, the lung cancer patients and healthy control subjects did not statistically differ in age, sex, smoking status, tumor size, pathological classification, as well as lymphatic metastasis and stage (P>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The plasma protein levels of MMP-7 increase in the peripheral blood of lung cancer patients. Peripheral blood MMP-7 can be used as a tumor marker for detecting lung cancer. The fact that no significant correlation between the protein levels of MMP-7 and lung cancer clinical parameters was observed in this study warrants further analysis in larger samples.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing 100021, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Ting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yanning
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Guiyu
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Kelin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D020783:Matrix Metalloproteinase 7 / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D012372:ROC Curve
chemical_list: D020783:Matrix Metalloproteinase 7