title: Increased MMP-21 expression is associated with poor overall survival of patients with gastric cancer.
abstract: Matrix metalloproteinase-21 (MMP-21) has been shown to enhance tumor invasion and metastasis ability in some solid tumors. In the present study, we investigated the expression of MMP-21 as well as its association with overall survival of gastric cancer patients. MMP-21 expression was investigated in 296 cases of gastric cancer by immunohistochemistry assay. Statistical analysis was utilized to evaluate the association of MMP-21 expression with overall survival of patients. MMP-21 expression was proved to be increased in gastric cancer compared with that in normal tissues (P < 0.05). It was also proved MMP-21 expression was associated with tumor invasion, metastasis and TNM stage (P < 0.001). MMP-21 expression was showed to be associated with overall survival of gastric cancer patients for patients with tumor of higher MMP-21 expression tend to have worse overall survival (P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis proved MMP-21 to be an independent prognostic factor for overall survival of gastric cancer patients (P < 0.001). These results suggested the potential role of MMP-21 in progression of human gastric cancer. It might also be a novel molecular marker to predict overall survival of patients with gastric cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an 710032, Shaanxi, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Yi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jianguo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Qing
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Qiao
authors.forename: Guoqiang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xianli
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Xilin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Du
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D053505:Matrix Metalloproteinases, Secreted / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C471969:MMP21 protein, human; D053505:Matrix Metalloproteinases, Secreted