ABSTRACT
Objective To study the expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-1 3 (MMP-1 3)and p73 in gastric adenocarcinoma,and to explore the associations of the expressions of MMP-1 3 and p73 with the clinico-pathological features,and to evaluate their clinical significances for the prognosis of gastric adenocarcinoma metastasis.Methods The immunohistochemistry SP methods was used to evaluate the expressions of MMP-1 3 and p73 in 1 43 cases of gastric adenocarcinoma and 55 normal tissues adjacent to carcinoma,and their associa-tions to the clinicopathologic features were analyzed.Results The expression of MMP-1 3 in gastric adenocarci-noma was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues of cancer (67.1 3% vs 1 6.35%),with a significant difference (χ2 =41 .1 0,P =0.000).The expression of p73 in gastric adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues of cancer (58.74% vs 1 2.73%),with a significant difference (χ2 =33.86,P =0.000).In the gastric adenocarcinoma,the expression of MMP-1 3 was associated with peripheral lymph node metastasis (χ2 =1 1 .835,P =0.001 ),depth of invasion (χ2 =5.1 77,P =0.032)and TNM stage (χ2 =1 1 .1 07,P =0.001 ),but it was not correlated with the ages of patients (χ2 =0.1 1 3,P =0.853),tumor size (χ2 =0.338,P =0.591 )and tumor differentiation level (χ2 =3.628,P =0.072).In the gastric adenocarci-noma,the expression of p73 was associated with peripheral lymph node metastasis (χ2 =1 1 .440,P =0.001 ), tumor differentiation level (χ2 =5.407,P =0.025)and TNMstage (χ2 =9.497,P =0.003),but it was not correlated with the ages of patients (χ2 =1 .567,P =0.222),tumor size (χ2 =0.841 ,P =0.392)and depth of invasion (χ2 =0.554,P =0.498).The expression of MMP-1 3 was positively correlated with the expression of p73 in gastric adenocarcinoma group (r =0.684,P =0.000).Conclusion Both MMP-1 3 and p73 may participate in the development of gastric adenocarcinoma,which can be used as an important index for the eval-uation of invasiveness and metastasis in gastric adenocarcinoma.