Carotid body paragangliomas and matrix metalloproteinases.
BACKGROUND
The carotid body tumors (CBTs) are relatively rare neoplasms and may present into benign or life threatening malignant forms. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are often involved in vascular and cancer diseases. Objective of this study is to study the relationship between CBTs and MMPs.


METHODS
We performed a multicenter study on 14 patients with CBTs. All tumors were resected. For each patient, we evaluated the MMPs' levels in both plasma (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA] test) and tissue samples (Western blot analysis). These MMPs' plasma levels were compared with the MMPs' plasma levels of healthy patients.


RESULTS
Eleven patients had benign CBTs, whereas 3 patients had malignant CBTs. ELISA findings revealed significant higher levels (P < 0.01) of MMP-1, -2, -3, -8, and -9 in patients with paraganglioma with respect to healthy patients. Patients with malignant CBTs showed significantly higher levels (P < 0.01) of MMP-1, -2, and -3 compared with patients with benign CBTs.


CONCLUSIONS
Because this is an exploratory study, the experience on this casuistry showed that MMPs' evaluation may help clinicians and surgeons to formulate a more rapid and clear diagnosis on CBTs' behavior. However, other studies on a large group of patients may be useful to validate these observations.
Department of Medical and Surgical Science, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy. Electronic address: rserra@unicz.it.
Raffaele
R
Serra
Department of Medical and Surgical Science, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
Raffaele
R
Grande
Department of Health Science, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
Luca
L
Gallelli
Department of Health Science, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
Pierandrea
P
Rende
Unit of Vascular Surgery, Annunziata Hospital, Cosenza, Italy.
Edoardo
E
Scarcello
Department of Medical and Surgical Science, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
Gianluca
G
Buffone
Unit of Vascular Surgery, S. Anna Hospital, Catanzaro, Italy.
Francesco Giuseppe
FG
Caliò
Department of Morphology, Surgery and Experimental Medicine, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
Vincenzo
V
Gasbarro
Department of General, Geriatric, Oncologic Surgery and Advanced Technologies, University of Naples "Federico II", Naples, Italy.
Bruno
B
Amato
Department of Medical and Surgical Science, University Magna Graecia of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.
Stefano
S
de Franciscis
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism; D001706:Biopsy; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002345:Carotid Body Tumor / Q000201:enzymology*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010235:Paraganglioma / Q000201:enzymology*
D015415:Biomarkers; D020782:Matrix Metalloproteinases