EXPRESSION AND LOCALIZATION OF MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASES AND TISSUE INHIBITORS OF METALLOPROTEINASES AS A PROGNOSTIC FACTOR IN ADVANCED COLORECTAL CARCINOMAS

To clarify the usefulness of matrix metallo-proteinases (MMPs) and tis sue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) as prognostic factors in advanced colorectal carcinoma, the immunohistochemical expressions of MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-9, TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 were examined. Specimens were selected from 67 consecutive patients undergoing surgery for adv anced colorectal carcinoma. The patterns of expression were compared w ith the prognoses of the patients. The patients with TIMP-2 expression in stroma adjacent to the tumor mass had better prognoses than those of the patients who had no TIMP-2 expression in normal stroma adjacent to the tumor (p<0.05), which probably acted as a block of cancer cell invasion. However, the expression of MMP-2, presumably acting as an a ntagonist to TIMP-2 was not related to the prognosis, and the MMP-1, M MP-2, MMP-3, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 expressions were not related to any clin icopathological factors examined.