Journal
BRITISH JOURNAL OF CANCER
Volume 98, Issue 4, Pages 766-775Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6604239
Keywords
squamous cell carcinoma; tongue; MMP-8; matrix metalloproteinases; oestrogen receptor; oestrogen
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the tongue is the most common cancer in the oral cavity and has a high mortality rate. A total of 90 mobile tongue SCC samples were analysed for Bryne's malignancy scores, microvascular density, and thickness of the SCC sections. In addition, the staining pattern of cyclooxygenase-2, alpha v beta 6 integrin, the laminin-5 gamma 2-chain, and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) -2, -7, -8, -9, -20, and -28 were analysed. The expression of MMP-8 (collagenase-2) was positively associated with improved survival of the patients and the tendency was particularly prominent in females. No sufficient evidence for a correlation with the clinical outcome was found for any other immunohistological marker. To test the protective role of MMP-8 in tongue carcinogenesis, MMP-8 knockout mice were used. MMP-8 deficient female mice developed tongue SCCs at a significantly higher incidence than wildtype mice exposed to carcinogen 4-Nitroquinoline-N-oxide. Consistently, oestrogen-induced MMP-8 expression in cultured HSC-3 tongue carcinoma cells, and MMP-8 cleaved oestrogen receptor (ER) alpha and beta. According to these data, we propose that, contrary to the role of most proteases produced by human carcinomas, MMP-8 has a protective, probably oestrogen-related role in the growth of mobile tongue SCCs.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available