Clinical significance of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in patients with oral cancer

Background. Factors that represent the potential for invasion and metastasis, such as matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), could predict prognosis of cancer. Therefore, the authors studied plasma and tissue levels of MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 in oral cancer, the leading malignancy in India. Methods. Enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay and gelatin zymography were used for the MMP analysis from plasma and tissue samples, respectively. Results. Latent, active, and total forms and activation ratio of MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 were significantly elevated in malignant tissues as compared with adjacent normal tissues. Activation of MMP‐2 was higher than MMP‐9 in malignant tissues. Activation ratio was significantly higher in malignant tissues of the patients with lymph node metastasis as compared with those without lymph node metastasis (p = .005). Plasma MMP‐9 levels were significantly lower in responders as compared with pretreatment levels (p = .002). Conclusion. The data indicate that MMP‐2 and MMP‐9 can be useful to identify metastatic phenotype as well as for treatment monitoring in oral cancer. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Head Neck, 2007