• Edneia A S Ramos, Camila T da Silva, Graciele C M Manica, Isabela T Pereira, Liliane M B Klassen, Enilze M S F Ribeiro, Iglenir J Cavalli, Karin Braun-Prado, Rubens S Lima, Cicero A Urban, Fabrício F Costa, NoronhaLucia deLDepartment of Experimental Pathology, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná (PUC-PR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil., and Giseli Klassen.
• Department of Basic Pathology, Universidade Federal do Paraná (UFPR), Curitiba, PR, Brazil.
• Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2016 Nov 1; 62 (8): 774-781.

Introduction:Breast cancer is the most cause of death, and approximately 90% of these deaths are due to metastases. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) gelatinase activity is able to degrade a major constituent of the tumor microenvironment, type IV collagen. Two well-established proteins used as markers in clinical practice for breast cancer are the receptors for estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR). Although the presence of these receptors has been associated with a better prognosis, loss of these proteins can occur during tumor progression, with subsequent resistance to hormone therapy.Objective:To study the correlation among MMP-2, ER, and PR, as well as the establishment of the metastatic process in primary breast tumors.Method:Breast cancer samples (n=44) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry for MMP-2, ER, and PR.Results:We observed that 90% of patients who had metastases and died showed positive staining for MMP-2 (p=0.0082 for both). Using Kaplan-Meier analysis, we found that negative ER patients who were also positive for MMP-2 had even worse disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) (p= 0.012 and p=0.005, respectively). Similar results were found in PR-negative patients for DFS (a trend p=0.077) and OS (p=0.038).Conclusion:Regardless of our small sample size (n=44), the data obtained strongly suggest that MMP-2 in combination with already well-established markers could help to predict the emergence of metastases and death in patients with breast cancer.

26 keywords...

hide…