Expression of membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase in medullary thyroid carcinoma: prognostic implications.

BACKGROUND

Clinical and pathologic examinations cannot always provide a prognosis for patients with medullary thyroid carcinoma. Membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) can act directly on carcinogenesis and takes part in 1 of the processes of metalloproteinase 2 activation, an enzyme related to prognostic impairment of patients with such tumor.

METHODS

Thirty-five patients who were submitted to surgery were followed up for an average of 74 months. Postoperative and final medical conditions were characterized for comparison with MT1-MMP immunostainings, performed in surgical paraffin blocks. A value of p < .05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

Proposed index (association of proportion and intensity of immunostaining) and proportion of immunostained cells in primary specimens were correlated with cure or persistence after initial operations (p = .0216 and p = .0098, respectively).

CONCLUSION

MT1-MMP immunostaining in primary tumor specimens is a new and complementary prognostic predictor in patients with medullary thyroid carcinomas.