MMP-2 and DcR3 expression in esophageal cancer tissue and correlation with patient survival.

OBJECTIVE This study aims to explore the expression of decoy receptor 3 (DcR3) and the matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) in esophageal carcinoma and their relationship with patient survival. METHODS The EnVision(TM) immunohistochemistry method was used to examine DcR3 and MMP-2 expression in 150 surgical biopsies of esophageal carcinoma. Expression level was compared with clinical indices and with patient survival. RESULTS In cancer tissues, the positive expression rate of DcR3 and MMP-2 was 54.00% and 54.67% respectively; this was higher than levels in adjacent normal tissue. DcR3 and MMP-2 were positively correlated with carcinoma size, lymphatic metastasis, invasion degree, clinical stage and 3-year survival. DcR3 and MMP-2 were not correlated with gender, age and tumor degree of differentiation. DcR3 and MMP-2 were positively correlated between in the two groups (r = 0.37, P < 0.01). Kaplan-Meier survival curve showed that higher rates of DcR3 and MMP-2 expression correlated with lower survival. CONCLUSIONS Determining DcR3 and MMP-2 expression may be useful for the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of patients with esophageal carcinoma.