The relationship of metalloproteinase gene polymorphisms and lung cancer

We analyzed the relationship between matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, -7, and -13 gene expression and polymorphisms and disease susceptibility and prognosis in patients who had undergone surgery for non-small-cell lung cancers.

The study group consisted of 132 patients who had undergone radical surgery for non-small-cell lung cancers. The control group consisted of 80 healthy volunteers. We isolated deoxyribonuclease samples for use in analyzing gene polymorphisms from pathology blocks for the patient group and from blood samples for the control group. We identified MMP gene polymorphisms with polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Results were compared with those of the control group to evaluate disease susceptibility, correlation with other clinical parameters, and with survival and prognosis by using appropriate statistical methods.

When we compared polymorphisms pertaining to MMP genes in healthy controls and lung tumor DNA, we observed a decrease in the MMP-2 (-735) polymorphism GG genotype and increases in the MMP-13 (A77G) polymorphism AG and GG genotypes (P = 0.008, P = 0.047, and P = 0.047, respectively). For the MMP-7 (-181) polymorphism, the genotype did not differ significantly for disease susceptibility. Median overall survival time was 25.5 mo in the MMP-13 AA/AG genotypes and 9.3 mo in the GG genotype.

Decreases in the MMP-2 (-735) polymorphism GG genotype and increases in the MMP-13 (A77G) polymorphism AG and GG genotypes increase the risk for lung cancer. Furthermore, the presence of the MMP-13 (A77G) polymorphism GG genotype is an unfavorable prognostic factor.