Study on expression of MT1-MMP in epithelial ovarian cancer and correlation with biological characteristics and prognosis

Objective To study the expression and significance o f MT1-MMP protein in epithelial ovarian cancer. Methods Im munohistochemical staining (SP method) was used to detect the expression of MT1- MMP protein and MVD in 56 epithelial ovarian cancer, 15 epithelial benign tumors of ovary, and 10 normal ovary tissues. Results The expre ssion of MT1-MMP protein in epithelial ovarian cancer (67.9%) was significantly higher than those in benign ovarian tumor (4/15) and normal ovary(1/10)( P0.01). The expression level of MT1-MMP correlated with FIGO staging , differentiation, lymph node metastasis and MVD. Expression of MT1-MMP showed a significant influence on survival in univariate analysis. Conclusion Overexpression of MT1-MMP in epithelial ovarian cancer may play an important role during tumor angiogenesis, invasion and metastasis. Moreover, it may be of value in predicting the patients' prognosis .