Objective: To investigate the role and clinicopathological significance of RECK and MMP-2 expressions in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).
Methods: We collected 57 samples of ESCC tissue and 57 samples of corresponding normal esophageal epithelium tissues in Henan Cancer Hospital. The expression of RECK and MMP-2 was detected with tissue array and immunohistochemistry. Chi-square test and Spearman corrilation analysis were used to analyze the results.
Results: The positive rate of MMP-2 protein expression in cancer tissues was 42.1% (24/57), higher than in normal esophageal epithelia 19.3% (11/57), with a significant difference (chi(2) = 6.968, P < 0.05). For ESCC, a difference was not found in MMP-2 expression among patients with different degree of differentiation and different depth of invasion. The expression levels of RECK in ESCC tissues and normal esophageal epithelia were 36.8% (21/57) and 61.4% (35/57), respectively, with a significant difference (chi(2) = 6.879, P < 0.05). For ESCC, the expression level of RECK was not related to the degree of differentiation, depth of invasion and lymph node metastasis (P > 0.05). For ESCC patients, the expression rates of RECK and MMP-2 were not correlated with age or gender.
Conclusion: The abnormal expression level of the RECK and MMP-2 protein may play an important role in carcinogenesis of esophageal squamous carcinoma. Decreased expression of RECK and increased expression of MMP-2 may be correlated with the esophageal squamous cell carcinoma development, but there is no connection observed between the expression of MMP-2 and RECK.