Analysis of the relationship between expressions of TF and MMP-9 and prognosis of breast cancer patients

Objective To investigate expression of the tissue factor (TF) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in breast cancers, and to assess their expression in relation to possible prognostic significance. Methods The expression of TF and MMP-9 in 71 breast cancer specimens were determined by EnVision immunohistochemistry, and the positive expressions related to the patient clinical outcome. Results Positive rates of TF and MMP-9 staining were respectively 43.7% and 42.3%. K-M monofactorial analysis showed that the 5-year survival rate of the patients with a positive expression of TF and MMP-9 was lower than those with negative expression ( P < 0.05). However, the COX multifactorial analysis indicated that TNM staging and lymph node metastasis were the prognostic factors for breast cancer patients, and that TF and MMP-9 could not be used as the independent prognostic factors ( P > 0.05). Conclusion The positive rates of TF and MMP-9 were considerably high in breast cancers, which could provide useful information for patient prognosis.