J Korean Assoc Oral Maxillofac Surg.  2007 Jun;33(3):199-203.

The clinical significance of the expression of TGF-beta 1 and MMP-2 related to the regional lymph node metastasis in the oral squamous cell carcinoma

• Kim JY
• Rotaru H
• Kim SG

Abstract

Several matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) have been shown to play an important role in the invasion and metastasis of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). The members of the TGF-beta signaling pathway are being considered as predictive biomarkers for progressive tumorigenesis and molecular targets for the prevention and the treatment of cancer and metastasis. The aim of the present study was to find the clinical significance of the expression of TGF-beta 1 and MMP-2 related to the regional lymph node metastasis in OSCC. This study included 76 cases of primary OSCC, of which 42 cases showed regional lymph node metastases. Immunohistochemistry was used for the localization of protein. The relation between the expression of each protein and clinical variables was statistically evaluated. In results, the expression of TGF-beta 1 both main mass with lymph node metastasis and without lymph node metastasis was found not to be statistically significant (p>0.05). The expression of MMP-2 was found to be statistically significant related to regional lymph node metastasis (p<0.05). When compared the expression in the metastatic lymph node, TGF-beta 1 was significantly highly expressed than MMP-2 (p<0.05). In conclusion, the expression of MMP-2 was significantly elevated in patients with lymph node metastasis as compared to the patients without lymph node metastasis, which could be useful in predicting the risk of lymph node metastasis in OSCC.

Keyword

Oral squamous cell carcinoma(OSCC); Matrix metalloproteinase-2(MMP-2); TGF-beta 1; Metastasis

MeSH Terms

Biomarkers
Carcinogenesis
Carcinoma, Squamous Cell*
Humans
Immunohistochemistry
Lymph Nodes*
Matrix Metalloproteinases
Neoplasm Metastasis*
Transforming Growth Factor beta*
Matrix Metalloproteinases
Transforming Growth Factor beta