Breast cancer
Elevated levels of MMP-1–3, MMP-7–9, MMP-11, MMP-
13–15, and MMP-26 are reported in the blood, urine, and/or
cancer tissue from breast cancer patients [90–95]. [96]. Furthermore, strong immunohistochemical
staining for MMP-1 in stromal fibroblasts has been associ-
ated with a higher rate of distant metastases [97, 98]. The
level of MMP-2 does not seem to have any liable prognostic
value, whereas strong MMP-9 expression in stromal cells
has been associated with poor prognosis in several studies
[96–100]. Interestingly, one study found strong MMP-9
expressions in tumor cells to be an independent predictor
of prolonged survival [100]. In a large study including 1,079
breast cancer patients, polymorphic variants of the MMP-7
gene associated with increased transcription were found to
be significantly associated with poor prognosis [101]. Other
studies have found that a generally high expression level of
a number of MMPs (MMP-1, MMP-7, MMP-9, MMP-11,
MMP-13, and MMP-14) and TIMPs (TIMP-1–3) in tumor
associated fibroblasts or macrophages were associated with
increased risk of distant metastases [97, 98]. Furthermore,
strong immunohistochemical staining for MMP-13 in tumor
cells, but not in stromal cells, were correlated with aggres-
sive tumor phenotypes and decreased overall survival in a
study including the tissue from 263 breast carcinomas [102].
In contrast to these tumor-promoting MMPs, strong immu-
nohistochemical staining for MMP-26 in ductal carcinomas
in situ was correlated with longer patient survival [103],
indicating opposing effects of MMP-26 in breast and lung
cancers. Strong TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 staining in cells of the
tumor stroma has also been associated with increased risk of
local recurrences in breast cancer patients, and strong TIMP-
1 staining in tumor cells was reported to be an independent
adverse prognostic factor for overall survival [97, 98, 102,
104]. These results are in contrast with the results reported
from colorectal cancer where high expression of TIMPs
generally predicted better survival.