Expression And Serum Concentration Of MMP-2,MMP-7 And VEGF In Thyroid Carcinoma

Objective:To investigate the expression and serum concentration of MMP-2,MMP-7,VEGF in thyroid tissue and examine the correlations with clinicopathological parameters.Methods:We investigated the protein expression of MMP-2,MMP-7 and VEGF in 54 cases of thyroid carcinomas and 27 cases of benign lesions using immunohistochemistry.The preoperative(32 cases of TC,25 cases of benign lesions)and postoperative(23 cases of TC)serum concentrations of MMP-2,MMP-7 and VEGF were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Results:(1).The positive expression rate of MMP-2 was 85.2%,29.6%in tumor tissue and benign lesions respectively.The positive expression rate of MMP-2 was elevated Significantly in tumor tissue compared to benign lesions(P＜0.05).The positive expression rate of MMP-7 was 44.4%,14.8%in tumor tissue and benign lesions respectively.The positive expression rate of MMP-7 was elevated significantly in tumor tissue compared to benign lesions(P＜0.05).The positive expression rate of VEGF was 75.9%,25.9%in tumor tissue and benign lesions respectively.The positive expression rate of VEGF was elevated significantly in tumor tissue compared to benign lesions(P＜0.05). (2)There was significant higher expression of MMP-2 in large tumor size (＞2cm),lymph node involvement,extrathyroidal invasion(P＜0.05),there was no significant difference between the expression of MMP-2 in sex,age and TNM stages(P＞0.05).There was significant lower expression of MMP-7 in large tumor size,lymph node involvement, extrathyroidal invasion(P＜0.05),there was no significant difference between the expression of MMP-7 in sex,age and TNM stages(P＞0.05). There was significant higher expression of VEGF in large tumor size, lymph node involvement,extrathyroidal invasion and TNM stages(P＜0.05),there was no significant difference between the expression of VEGF in sex,age(P＞0.05).(3)Both preoperative serum levels of MMP-2 and MMP-7 were elevated significantly in thyroid cancer patients when compared to the benign controls(P＜0.05).there was no significant difference between.the preoperative serum levels of MMP-7 in carcinomas and benign lesions (P＞0.05).(4)the preoperative serum levels of MMP-2 were elevated significantly when compared to the postoperative control.there were no significant differences between the preoperative and postoperative serum levels of VEGF and MMP-7(P＞0.05).Conclusions:(1)MMP-2,MMP-7 and VEGF were over expressed in the thyroid carcinomas compared to benign tissues.High expression of MMP-2,MMP-7 and VEGF in thyroid tissue could be a marker of TC in patients.(2)High expression of MMP-2 with low expression of MMP-7 are linked to aggressive characteristics of thyroid carcinoma and may even be a marker of lymph node metastasis and capsule infiltration in patients. (3)The preoperative serum levels of MMP-2 and MMP-7 were elevated significantly in thyroid cancer patients compared to the controls,which indicate that the serum concentration of MMP-2,MMP-7 could be a diagnosis marker for thyroid carcinoma.thyroid tumor tissue overexpress MMP-2,VEGF with lower MMP-7 will be considered as lymph node metastasis and capsule infiltration(4)high preoperative serum levels of MMP-2,MMP-7 may even be a marker of lymph node metastasis and capsule infiltration in patients.measurement of postoperative serum level of MMP-2 could be used as detecting recurrence of TC.