Matrix Metalloproteinases and Their Tissue Inhibitors in Blood Serum of Patients with Endometrial Cancer: Clinical and Morphological Correlations

Abstract

In patients with endometrial cancer (N=94), endometrial polyps (N=28), endometrial hyperplasia (N=25), and healthy women (N=77), the serum contents of MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9, TIMP-1, and TIMP-2 were measured by ELISA. Both carcinoma and benign neoplasms were accompanied by significant elevation of MMP-7 and TIMP-2 in blood serum. The greatest elevation (in comparison with the control) was observed for MMP-7, although serum concentration of this marker was practically identical in patients with carcinoma and benign tumors. In contrast, the levels of MMP-2 and TIMP-1 were lower in cancer patients in comparison with the control; in these patients, the levels of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 were also lower than the corresponding levels in patients with polyps and endometrial hyperplasia. There were no significant correlations between the levels of examined markers with tumor metastasizing, its histological structure, and differentiation degree of endometrial cancer. No differences were observed between examined serological markers in patients with polyps and endometrial hyperplasia of various severities. The examined MMPs and TIMPs cannot be advanced as potential diagnostic markers of endometrial cancer, but they can be used to monitor and prognosticate the disease and to assess effectiveness of the targeted therapy.