title: Circulating Anti-Matrix Metalloproteinase-7 Antibodies May Be a Potential Biomarker for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The present study was conducted to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic values of serum autoantibody against matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  Anti-MMP-7 antibodies were measured in sera from 204 patients with OSCC and 212 normal controls using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and clinicopathologic characteristics were correlated. Prognostic consequence was assessed with Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank tests using Cox proportional hazard models. To check whether anti-MMP-7 antibody was related to tumor associated antigen, real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot were used to measure MMP-7 mRNA and protein expression in tumor tissues from all 204 patients with OSCC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum anti-MMP-7 antibody was higher in patients with OSCC (P < .05), and those with poorly differentiated tumors had more anti-MMP-7 antibody than those with well to moderate tumor differentiation (P < .01, P < .01, respectively). Patients with OSCC at late TNM stages (III, IV) and lymph node metastases had relatively higher serum anti-MMP-7 antibody levels than those with earlier stages (I, II) and those who lacked lymph node metastases (P < .05 for the 2 comparisons). OSCC prediction sensitivity as measured by receiver operating characteristics analysis was 0.485 and specificity was 0.896 (area under the curve, 0.761; 95% confidence interval, 0.716 to 0.806). Cox analysis showed that serum anti-MMP-7 antibody positivity independently predicted poor overall survival in patients with OSCC (hazard ratio, 1.82; 95% confidence interval, 1.07 to 4.61). MMP-7 mRNA and protein expression was increased in tumor tissues from patients with OSCC and high serum anti-MMP-7 antibody.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Serum anti-MMP-7 antibody might be a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for OSCC.
authors.affiliation: Professor, Department of Stomatology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Department of General Dentistry, Jinan Stomatological Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Resident, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Jinan Stomatological Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, China.
authors.forename: Pengfeng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Department Head, Department of Stomatology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China. Electronic address: liuhcoral@163.com.
authors.forename: Hongchen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019540:Area Under Curve; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D020783:Matrix Metalloproteinase 7 / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012372:ROC Curve; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C060932:MMP7 protein, human; D020783:Matrix Metalloproteinase 7