title: Matrix metalloproteinase activity in early-stage lung cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs)-2, -9 and -7 are thought to be associated with tumor invasion, metastasis, and angiogenesis. However, their possible roles in early-stage lung cancer are not clear. We measured the activity of MMP-2, -7 and -9 in early-stage lung cancer tissues.
  
  
  METHODS
  Normal lung tissues and cancer tissues were collected from 60 consecutive stage-I non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. The activities of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were determined by gelatin zymography, and the activity of MMP-7 was determined by casein zymography. Furthermore, the ratio of the active form of MMP-2 in tumor tissue (T) compared with normal tissue (N) was determined, and the survival in the groups with different MMP-2 T:N ratio was compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The activity of both MMP-2 and MMP-9 was detected in all cancer and normal tissues. Interestingly, MMP-9 activity was significantly reduced, whereas MMP-2 activity was significantly increased, in cancer tissues compared to normal tissues. The survival rate of the MMP-2 T:N ratio > 2.5 group was 57.45%, which was significantly reduced compared with that of the T:N ratio ≤ 2.5 group (86.78%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings suggest that MMP-2, but not MMP-9 and MMP-7, may be implicated in early-stage tumor invasion, metastasis, and angiogenesis in NSCLC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, The Fourth People's Hospital of Wuxi, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Suzhou University, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Yuan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Weng
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Jiqun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.forename: Koujun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Xiaoyin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Weijun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Ding
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004789:Enzyme Activation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality*; D008297:Male; D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases / Q000032:analysis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D015995:Prevalence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases