Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 22, 2026
Spontaneous Murine Model of Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer
Published on: February 3, 2023
Expression of membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase in medullary thyroid carcinoma: prognostic implications
Beatriz Godoi Cavalheiro1, Consuelo Rodrigues Junqueira, Lenine Garcia Brandão
1Head and Neck Surgery Service, Instituto Brasileiro de Controle do Câncer (IBCC), São Paulo, Brazil. bgcavalheiro@yahoo.com.br
Background:
Clinical and pathologic examinations cannot always provide a prognosis for patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma. Membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) can act directly on carcinogenesis and takes part in 1 of the processes of metalloproteinase 2 activation, an enzyme related to prognostic impairment of patients with such tumor.
Methods:
Thirty-five patients who were submitted to surgery were followed up for an average of 74 months. Postoperative and final medical conditions were characterized for comparison with MT1-MMP immunostainings, performed in surgical paraffin blocks. A value of p < .05 was considered statistically significant.
Results:
Proposed index (association of proportion and intensity of immunostaining) and proportion of immunostained cells in primary specimens were correlated with cure or persistence after initial operations (p = .0216 and p = .0098, respectively).
Conclusion:
MT1-MMP immunostaining in primary tumor specimens is a new and complementary prognostic predictor in patients with medullary thyroid carcinomas.
