Expression And Clinical Significance Of Vimentin, MMP-7 In Renal Cell Carcinoma

Objective: The expression of the Vimentin and MMP-7 (matrix metalloproteinase-7) correlates with the malignant potential of various tumors. We investigated the expression and clinical significance of the Vimentin and MMP-7 in cancer cells in human renal cell carcinoma (RCC).Methods: Immunohistochemistry was employed to determine the expressions of Vimentin and MMP-7 in 52 cases of renal tissues with RCC and 14 cases of renal tissues without RCC. Multivariate analysis was done to assess relevant variables for clinical stages, pathologic tumor stage, invasion, and metastasis.Results: Immunohistocytochemistry staining for Vimentin and MMP-7 were noted in the cytoplasm of cancer cells. In 52 cases of RCC, the expression of Vimentin and MMP-7 were 82.7% and 88.5%. The proportion of Vimentin-expressing tumor cells and MMP-7-expressing tumor cells were significantly higher than that of normal cells (P<0.01). It was found that the positive expression rates of Vimentin and MMP-7 were positively related with clinical stages, pathologic tumor stage, invasion, and metastasis. The expression of Vimentin was positively related to that of MMP-7(rs=0.789,P<0.01).Conclusion: Our results showed that the expression rate of Vimentin and MMP-7 in human renal cell carcinoma was strong related with clinical stages, pathologic tumor stage, invasion, and metastasis. They might be the important biological marker in renal cell carcinoma. Our results suggest that Vimentin and MMP-7 targeting treatments may be a potential target against RCC.