Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Medicine - Department of Pathology

Background/Aim: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer death worldwide with increasing incidence in Egypt. Prognosis of CRC depends on many factors, such as age and sex of patient, tumor microscopic type and grade, and nodal and distant metastasis. The matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of proteolytic enzymes strongly implicated in tumor invasion and metastasis, hence in tumor prognosis. The purpose of this study was to assess the role of MMP-9 expression in colorectal tumorigenesis and invasion, hence used as a prognostic marker. Methods: Specimens of resected CRC of 45 patients were immunohistochemically stained for MMP-9. The results of immunohistochemical expression of MMP-9 were correlated with some clinical and pathologic parameters. Results: Eighty percent of CRC cases showed positive expression for MMP-9. Statistically significant relationship was detected between MMP-9 expression with histologic type (p=0.039), as MMP-9 expression was higher in non-mucinous adenocarcinoma histologic type (86.5%). Also, a statistically significant relationship was detected between the histologic grade and depth of tumour invasion (p=0.034). Conclusions:High expression of MMP-9 was observed in tumor cells of CRC cases suggesting their association with colorectal tumor invasion and metastasis and that they could be targets for intervention and therapy in CRC

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