Serum level of MMP-3 in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma--lack of association with clinico-pathological features

BACKGROUND

MMP-3 is a proteolytic enzyme of the matrix metalloproteinase family. Protein degradation which is their fundamental action regulates different activities of tumor cell such as their growth, differentiation, apoptosis, migration, invasion, angiogenesis as well as their resistance to the immune system.

AIM

The aim of this study was to determine MMP-3 serum levels in patients with OSCC and investigate if they correlate with clinicopathological features.

METHOD AND MATERIALS

Using an ELISA kit, we assessed and compared the circulating levels of MMP-3 in blood serum of 45 oral squamous cell carcinoma patients with 45 healthy control samples.

RESULTS

The serum MMP-3 level in OSCC patients was significantly higher (9.45±4.6 ng/ml) than healthy controls (5.9±3.6 ng/ml, p<0.001), especially in females and in older patients. However, there was no apparent correlation in serum MMP-3 concentration with the clinico-pathological features such as tumor location, stage, tumor size, nodal status, distant metastasis, histological grade and smoking.

DISCUSSION

This result suggests that the measurement of serum MMP-3 concentration might be helpful to diagnose OSCC but not to predict prognosis.

Evaluation of Tissue Expression and Salivary Levels of HER2/neu in Patients with Head and Neck Squamous cell Carcinoma

INTRODUCTION

HER2/neu, a member of the epidermal growth factor receptor family, has been shown to be over-expressed in some tumors. The purpose of this study was to determine the salivary levels and tissue expression of HER2/neu in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and their correlation with clinicopathologic parameters.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) were used to evaluate the salivary levels of HER2/neu and immunohistochemistry was used to measure tissue expression of HER2/neu in 28 patients with HNSCC and 25 healthy control subjects.

RESULTS

The salivary levels of HER2/neu in patients with HNSCC were not significantly higher compared to healthy control subjects. There was no apparent correlation between salivary HER2/neu levels and clinicopathological features such as age, sex, tumor grade, tumor size and nodal status. All HNSCC specimens were positive (membranous or/and cytoplasmic) for HER2/neu, except one sample. Only one HNSCC specimen showed staining purely in the tumor-cell cytoplasm. All control specimens were also positive for both membranous and cytoplasmic HER2/neu but there was a significant difference between the level of cytoplasmic staining in the HNSCC specimens and in the control specimens (P<0.05).

CONCLUSION

In our study, no overexpression of HER2/neu was observed. Thus, identification of HER2/neu levels plays no role in differentiating between normal and squamous cell carcinoma tissues or detecting the carcinogenesis process. Our findings suggest that the use of HER2/neu as a salivary marker of HNSCC is not recommended, because no significant preoperative elevation and no association with clinicopathological features were found.