Clinicopathological significance of human macrophage metalloelastase expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Objective: Human macrophage metalloelastase is referred to as matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-12), its function in tumors is contradictory. The current study was undertaken to investigate the role of MMP-12 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC).

Patients And Methods: We analyzed the levels of MMP-12 mRNA expression in 67 patients with primary esophageal SCC by Northern blot analysis and the tissues were subjected to in situ hybridization analysis for MMP-12.