| Backgrounds:Tumor cell growth, invasion and metastasis require multiple steps to complete, including chemotaxis of tumor cell, extracellular matrix and basement membrane's disorder. According to recent research, chemokine receptor 7 (CCR7) plays a pivotal role in tumoral invasion and metastasis in part by up-regulating the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) in tumor cells. The papillary thyroid cancers(PTCs), which mainly metastasizes through lymphatic pathway, is one of the most common malignant tumors in Head and Neck Surgery. However, the expression of CCR7 in PTCs has hardly been reported, nor its relationship with MMP-9, the study of which would be of a promising significance in the assessment of the metastatic tendency and the target therapy for PTCs.Objectives:To investigate the expression of CCR7 and MMP-9 in PTCs and metastatic lymph node, and evaluate their relationship to the pathology and metastasis of PTCs.Methods:Papillary thyroid cancer specimens 60 cases from papillary thyroid cancer patients and 26 cases of metastatic lymph nodes in 2008-2009 were randomly collected from Qilu Hospital of Shandong University. The expression of CCR7 and MMP-9 were detected by the SP method of immunochemistry in both thyroid tissues and corresponding metastatic lymph nodes.10 fields of observation were randomly chosen under microscope 400X in magnification. The percentage of positive cells was calculated and the intensity of staining was also graded according to the degree of coloration. Their cross products were used as the final score of expression and analyzed with SPSS 12.00 software.Results:①CCR7 was expressed in 56.7%(34/60) of the patients, higher than that in normal tissues 0%(0/60) (P<0.01). The expression rate of CCR7 in metastatic lymph nodes was 92.3%(23/26), also higher than that in non-metastatic lymph nodes 29.4%(10/34) (P<0.05). The expression of CCR7 in PTCs was significantly associated with lymph-node metastasis, but with no relation to age, gender or tumor size (P>0.05);②MMP-9 was expressed in 70.0%(42/60) of the patients, higher than that in normal tissues 6.67%(4/60) (P<0.01). The expression rate of MMP-9 in metastatic lymph nodes was 92.3%(24/26), higher than that in non-metastatic lymph nodes 52.9%(18/34) (P<0.05). The expression of MMP-9 in PTCs was closely associated with lymph-node metastasis, without significant variation in age, gender or tumor size (P>0.05);③The expression rate of CCR7 in the 26 lymph node metastasis cases is 69.2%(18/26):18 cases expressed CCR7 in thyroid tissues and lymph node tissues,6 negative in lymph node but positive in thyroid tissue, and 2 negative in both tissues;④The expression rate of MMP-9 in 26 metastatic lymph node is 92.3%(24/26), with 22 cases expressing MMP-9 in both tissues,2 only positive in lymph nodes but negative in thyroid tissues, the other 2 only positive in thyroid tissues;⑤No matter in which tissues, thyroid glands or metastatic lymph nodes, the expression of CCR7 is in direct proportion to the expression of MMP-9 (P <0.05);⑥CCR7 was strictly expressed on the surface or in the cytoplasma of the tumor cells, but negative in the peritumoral tissues; On the other hand, MMP-9 was occasionally detected in the normal tissues which surrounded the tumor.Conclusion:①CCR7 and MMP-9 were abundantly expressed in PTCs; CCR7 expression was highly specific for the tumor cells.②CCR7 and MMP-9 expressions by PTCs were both closely related to the lymph node metastasis, but not to the patient age, sex and tumor size.③The percentage of MMP-9 expression in lymph node metastasis was correspond to that in PTCs, but that of CCR7 expression in lymph metastasis was decreased.④The expression of CCR7 and MMP-9 were positive correlation relationship. |
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