Expression of MMP28 in bladder cancer tissue microarray and its clinical significance

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the expression pattern and prognostic value of MMP-28 for bladder cancer and analyze its relationship with the clinicopathological features of human bladder cancer. Methods: Immunohistochemical staining for MMP28 was performed in 491 archived radical bladder cancer resection and 80 normal specimens. The immunoreactivity of these proteins was correlated to evaluate their clinical significance as prognostic factors. Results: Protein level of MMP-28 was up-regulated in bladder cancer compared with adjacent non-tumor tissues. The increased expression of MMP-28 was significantly associated with high histological grade, lymph node metastasis, lymphatic invasion and distant metastasis (P<0.05). High expression of MMP-28 was also associated with greater risk of disease progression and decreased chance of cancer-specific survival. Further analysis suggested that MMP-28 was related with decreased overall survival. Conclusions: MMP-28 could be used as an effective marker for tumor diagnosis and predict tumor progression in bladder cancer. The expression patterns of MMP-28 interaction correlated well with the pathological stage, disease progression and tumor-specific survival. The finding may help identify more biologically aggressive carcinomas which could aid in patients who benefit from more intensive adjuvant therapy.