Matrilysin-2 expression in colorectal cancer is associated with overall survival of patients

Tumor recurrence and metastasis are pressing issues of patients with colorectal cancer who receive surgery. Matrilysin-2 (MMP-26) has been proved to play an important role during invasion and metastasis of some human solid tumor. We aimed to investigate the clinical significance and prognostic value of matrilysin-2 in human colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer and adjacent normal samples from 201 patients were collected. Matrilysin-2 expression level was investigated by immunohistochemistry assay, and its association with overall survival of patients was analyzed by statistical analysis. Results showed that matrilysin-2 expression level significantly elevated in colorectal cancer compared with adjacent normal specimens. Matrilysin-2 expression was also found to be associated with cancer invasion, lymph node metastasis, distant metastasis, and TNM stage. In addition, survival analysis showed that elevated matrilysin-2 expression was associated with poor overall survival of patients. Cox's proportional hazards model indicated that matrilysin-2 was an independent prognostic marker for patients with colorectal cancer. The present study found that the expression of matrilysin-2 increased in colorectal cancer and was associated with tumor progression. It also provided the first evidence that matrilysin-2 expression was an independent prognostic factor for patients with colorectal cancer, which might be a high specific biomarker for colorectal cancer.