KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to investigate the aberrant expression of MMR proteins and MMPs in uLMS and their implications for disease progression and metastasis.
- Researchers noticed that MMP 2 & 9 upregulation in uLMS suggests their potential roles in tumor invasion, migration, and prognosis, offering insights for novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches in managing uLMS.
Uterine cancer, particularly uterine leiomyosarcoma (uLMS), is a rare but highly aggressive cancer known for its aggressiveness and rapid metastasis to various body parts. Despite advances in cancer research, mismatch repair proteins ( MMR) proteins, matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) in uterine leiomyosarcoma are still not fully understood.
Xiye Wang and the team sought to evaluate the expression levels of MMP2 and MMP9 in uLMS and benign uterine leiomyoma tumors.
Investigators performed an inclusive study using immunohistochemistry to evaluate the expression of MMR protein and MMP2/9 with the Ki67 marker showing increased in benign and malignant cervical soft tissue tumors. Analyzed data from 28 cases of cervical leiomyoma and 31 cases of uLMS to elucidate differences in generated protein expression.
About the results, tumor tissues from patients with uLMS exhibited significantly elevated expression levels of MMP2 (P<0.001), MMP9 (P<0.05), and Ki67 (P<0.001) compared to those from patients with uterine leiomyoma. Conversely, MMR protein expression demonstrated a contrasting trend (P<0.05). Positive correlations were observed between uLMS proliferation and metastasis with MMP2 (P=0.012 and 0.015, respectively), while MMP9 showed negative correlations (P=0.021 and 0.04, respectively). However, MMR protein expression did not exhibit significant correlations with uLMS proliferation or metastasis (P>0.05).
The study concluded that upregulated expression of MMP2 and MMP9 in malignant uLMS tumors suggests their potential roles in tumor invasion and migration. While increased MMP2 expression may promote uLMS invasion, MMP9 overexpression appears to be related to uLMS occurrence and offers protection against invasion and metastasis.
MMP2 and MMP9 emerged as potential predictors of uLMS cell proliferation, metastasis, and prognosis, offering valuable insights for the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for uLMS.
No funding information was available.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38537953/
Wang X, Li C, Lou L, et al. (2024). “Roles of Matrix Metalloproteinases 2 and 9 in Uterine Leiomyosarcoma.” Anticancer Res. 2024 Apr;44(4):1465-1473. doi: 10.21873/anticanres.16942. PMID: 38537953.
