| Background and Objective: Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is highly malignant, and incidence and mortality rates are almost identical. Most of patients are at the advanced stage by the time of diagnosis, and therefore lose the opportunity of curative resection. Pancreatic adenocaricnoma is the most aggressive carcinoma. Even if the original tumor is≤2cm, lymph node metastasis, vascular invasion and perineural invasion could be found. Increased expression of integrin alpha3 is associated with invasion and metastasis in some maliganacies. Pancreatic adenocaricnoma cells could produce laminin-5 and migrated on the matrix, which predicted aggressive behavior. Integrin alpha3 prefered laminin-5 to other matrix components, implying that integrin alpha3 played an important role in the invasive progress. However, its relationship with clinical pathological characteristics in pancreatic adenocarcinoma is still unkown . MMP-9 is one of the most important proteinases hydrolyzing basement membrane, associating with invasion behavior in most malignancies. However, the expression and its clinical roles in pancreatic adenocarcinoma differed greatly according to current reports. Integrin alpha3 could induce the expression of MMP-9 in vitro, but their correlation in pancreatic adenocarcioma is unclear. Our aim is to detect the expressions of integrin alpha3 and MMP-9 in pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and investigate their relationships with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis, furthermore the correlation between integrin alpha3 and MMP-9.Materials and methods: We collected 100 cases of paraffin-embedded pancreatic adenocarcinoma tissue from 1997 to May 2005 keeped in West China Hospital of SiChuan University. Tumor's histological types, grades, local extension, lymph node metastasis and perineural invasion were verified by pathological examination. TNM stages were defined by clinical findings. Follow-up were also performed. The expressions of integrin alpha3 and MMP-9 were detected by immunohistochemistry (LsAB means). Results: Duodenum invasion was associated with the location of tumor. Tumors located in the head, neck and uncinate pancreas were more likely to extend to duodenum. Compared with tumors located in the head, neck and uncinate pancreas , tumors in the body and tail presented with a significantly greater incidence of stage III-IV disease (P<0.01). Perineural invasion was more common in tumors of grade 3 than in tumors of grade 1(P<0.05), and following the increasing grade, perineural invasion became serious. Integrin alpha3 was not expressed by interlobular or intralobular ducts but expressed by intercalated ducts and centroacinar cells in normal pancreas. Ninety eight percent pancreatic adenocarcinomas were integrin alpha3 positive, 75% of which higly expressed. The expression of integrin alpha3 was not related with age, gender, grade, duodenum invasion, perineural invasion, TNM stage or prognosis. The integrin alpha3 expression of tumors located in head, neck and uncinate pancreas were stronger than that in body and tail (P=0.041). Increased expression of integrin alpha3 was associated with local lymph node metastasis (P=0.012). MMP-9 was not detected in normal pancreatic interlobular ducts or intralobular ducts. Eighty one percent pancreatic adenocarcinomas expressed MMP-9, 39% of which showed higly positive. There was no relation between the expression of MMP-9 and age, gender, tumor location, grade, duodenum invasion, local lymph node metastasis, perineural invasion, TNM stage or prognosis. The expression of MMP-9 showed positively correlated with the expression of integrin alpha3.Conclusions: Perineural invasion was more common in tumors of grade 3 than in tumors of grade1. The location of tumors was associated with duodenum invasion and TNM stage. Integrin alpha3 was related with location of the tumor and local lymph node metastasis. MMP-9 had no relation with clinicopathological parameters and prognosis. MMP-9 showed positively correlated with integrin alpha3. |
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