Circulating Anti–Matrix Metalloproteinase-7 Antibodies May Be a Potential Biomarker for Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

• Published in: Journal of oral and maxillofacial surgery Vol. 74; no. 3; pp. 650 - 657
• Main Authors: Jiang, Tao, MD, PhD, Xie, Pengfeng, MD, Liu, Hongchen, PhD
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.03.2016
• Subjects: Aged; Area Under Curve; Autoantibodies - blood; Biomarkers, Tumor - blood; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - blood; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - diagnosis; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - pathology; Case-Control Studies; Dentistry; Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel - methods; Female; Follow-Up Studies; Humans; Lymphatic Metastasis - pathology; Male; Matrix Metalloproteinase 7 - analysis; Matrix Metalloproteinase 7 - immunology; Middle Aged; Mouth Neoplasms - blood; Mouth Neoplasms - diagnosis; Mouth Neoplasms - pathology; Neoplasm Grading; Neoplasm Staging; Prognosis; Proportional Hazards Models; Retrospective Studies; ROC Curve; Sensitivity and Specificity; Surgery; Survival Rate
• ISSN: 0278-2391; 1531-5053
• DOI: 10.1016/j.joms.2015.09.016

Purpose The present study was conducted to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic values of serum autoantibody against matrix metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Materials and Methods Anti–MMP-7 antibodies were measured in sera from 204 patients with OSCC and 212 normal controls using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, and clinicopathologic characteristics were correlated. Prognostic consequence was assessed with Kaplan-Meier curve and log-rank tests using Cox proportional hazard models. To check whether anti–MMP-7 antibody was related to tumor associated antigen, real-time polymerase chain reaction and western blot were used to measure MMP-7 mRNA and protein expression in tumor tissues from all 204 patients with OSCC. Results Serum anti–MMP-7 antibody was higher in patients with OSCC ( P < .05), and those with poorly differentiated tumors had more anti–MMP-7 antibody than those with well to moderate tumor differentiation ( P < .01, P < .01, respectively). Patients with OSCC at late TNM stages (III, IV) and lymph node metastases had relatively higher serum anti–MMP-7 antibody levels than those with earlier stages (I, II) and those who lacked lymph node metastases ( P < .05 for the 2 comparisons). OSCC prediction sensitivity as measured by receiver operating characteristics analysis was 0.485 and specificity was 0.896 (area under the curve, 0.761; 95% confidence interval, 0.716 to 0.806). Cox analysis showed that serum anti–MMP-7 antibody positivity independently predicted poor overall survival in patients with OSCC (hazard ratio, 1.82; 95% confidence interval, 1.07 to 4.61). MMP-7 mRNA and protein expression was increased in tumor tissues from patients with OSCC and high serum anti–MMP-7 antibody. Conclusion Serum anti–MMP-7 antibody might be a novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarker for OSCC.