Salivary MMP-9 in the detection of oral squamous cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant tumour of the oral cavity. Detection of OSCC is currently based on clinical oral examination combined with histopathological evaluation of a biopsy sample. Direct contact between saliva and the oral cancer makes measurement of salivary metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) an attractive alternative.


METHODS
In total, 30 OSCC patients and 30 healthy controls were included in this prospective study. Saliva samples from both groups were collected, centrifuged and supernatant fluid was subjected to ELISA for assessment of MMP-9. The median salivary MMP-9 values with interquartile range (IQR) of OSCC patients and the control group were statistically analysed using the Mann-Whitney U-test. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed and the area under curve (AUC) was computed.


RESULTS
The median absorbance MMP-9 value of the OSCC group was 0.186 (IQR= 0.158) and that of control group was 0.156 (IQR=0.102). MMP-9 was significantly increased in the OSCC patients than in the controls by +19.2% (p=0.008). Median values in patients with recurrence and in patients with primary event were 0.233 (IQR=0.299) and 0.186 (IQR=0.134) respectively. MMP-9 was significantly increased in patients with primary event (p=0.017) compared to controls by +19.2%. No significant increase of MMP-9 level was detected when comparing patients with recurrence and healthy controls (+49.4%; p=0.074). The sensitivity value of MMP-9 was 100% whereas the specificity value was 26.7% with AUC of 0.698.


CONCLUSIONS
The present data indicates that the elevation of salivary levels of MMP-9 may be a useful adjunctive diagnostic tool for detection of OSCC. However, further studies are necessary to provide scientific and clinical validation.
Department of Cranio-Maxillofacial & Plastic Surgery, Jena University Hospital, Am Klinikum 1, 07747 Jena, Germany, andre.peisker@med.uni-jena.de.
A
A
Peisker
G-F
GF
Raschke
M-D
MD
Fahmy
A
A
Guentsch
K
K
Roshanghias
J
J
Hennings
S
S
Schultze-Mosgau
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 / Q000032:analysis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C579270:MMP9 protein, human; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9