title: Plasma levels of the tissue inhibitor matrix metalloproteinase-3 as a potential biomarker in oral cancer progression.
abstract: Oral cancer is the most common malignancy with poor prognosis and is the fourth most common cancer in men in Taiwan. The tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-3 (TIMP3) acts as a tumor suppressor gene by inhibiting the growth, angiogenesis, migration, and invasion of cancer cells. However, few studies have examined the association of plasma TIMP3 levels with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), and the role of plasma TIMP3 levels in OSCC progression is still unclear. We measured the plasma TIMP3 levels of 450 OSCC patients and 64 healthy controls by using a commercial enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. We also analyzed TIMP3 mRNA levels of 328 OSCC patients and 32 normal tissues from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Our results revealed that plasma TIMP3 levels were significantly lower in patients with OSCC than in healthy controls (p < 0.001). Moreover, plasma TIMP3 levels in patients with OSCC were significantly associated with the tumor stage and tumor status but not with the lymph node status, metastasis, and cell differentiation. To verify our findings, we also examined TCGA bioinformatics database and discovered similar results for the association with the pathological stage of OSCC. In conclusion, our results suggest that plasma TIMP3 is a potential biomarker for predicting the tumor stage and T status in patients with OSCC.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chun-Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Bo-Feng
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: School of Medical Laboratory and Biotechnology, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Whei-Ling
authors.initials: WL
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.; Department of Medical Research, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shun-Fa
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.; Department of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Changhua Christian Hospital, Changhua, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Mu-Kuan
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oral Sciences, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.; Department of Dentistry, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chiao-Wen
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D019717:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-3 / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C088390:TIMP3 protein, human; D019717:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-3
keywords: TIMP3; biomarker.; oral squamous cell carcinoma