Correlation of COX-2 and MMP-13 expressions with gastric cancer and their effects on prognosis.

PURPOSE: To study the expressions of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) genes in gastric cancer, and to investigate the correlation between them and gastric cancer and their effects onprognosis.

METHODS: 80 cases of tumor tissues and 40 cases of normal tumor-adjacent tissues were collected from patients with gastric cancer admitted to the Surgical Department of our hospital. The mRNA expression levels of COX-2 and MMP- 13 in tumor tissues and normal tumor-adjacent tissues were detected via real-time fluorescence reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The expressions of COX-2 and MMP-13 in gastric cancer tissues and normal tumor-adjacent tissues were detected via immunohistochemical method. The clinical data of patients were recorded and the correlation between the COX-2 and MMP-13 expressions and the pathological parameters and prognosis of patients with gastric cancer were analyzed.

RESULTS: RT-PCR results showed that the mRNA expressions of COX-2 and MMP-13 in gastric cancer tissues were significantly higher than those in normal tumor-adjacent tissues. Immunohistochemical results showed that the positive expression rates of COX-2 and MMP-13 in gastric cancer tissues were 76.25% (60/80) and 71.25% (57/80), respectively and the high expression was related to the invasion, metastasis and tumor stage. The 5-year overall survival of patients was 16.6% (13/80). Single-factor survival analysis showed that both COX-2 and MMP-13 were factors influencing the overall survival of patients with gastric cancer (p<0.01).

CONCLUSION: The high expressions of COX-2 and MMP-13 are closely related to the pathological parameters of patients with gastric cancer, especially the invasion, metastasis and tumor stage. COX-2 and MMP-13 can be used as reference indexes to guide the treatment of gastric cancer and predict the disease prognosis.