Detection of serum MMP-7 and MMP-9 in cholangiocarcinoma patients: evaluation of diagnostic accuracy

Abstract

Abstract Background Cholangiocarcinoma is an aggressive tumor with a tendency for local invasion and distant metastases. Timely diagnosis is very important because surgical resection (R0) remains the only hope for a cure. However, at present, there is no available tumor marker that can differentiate cholangiocarcinoma from benign bile duct disease. Previous studies have demonstrated that matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-7 and MMP-9 are frequently expressed in cholangiocarcinoma specimens. Methods This study was designed to determine whether the serum levels of MMP-7 and MMP-9 can discriminate cholangiocarcinoma patients from benign biliary tract disease patients in comparison to carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9). We measured the level of CEA, CA19-9, MMP-7 and MMP-9 in the serum of 44 cholangiocarcinoma and 36 benign biliary tract diseases patients. Results Among the serum levels of CEA, CA19-9, MMP-7 and MMP-9, only the serum MMP-7 level was significantly higher in the patients with cholangiocarcinoma (8.9 ± 3.43 ng/ml) compared to benign biliary tract disease patients (5.9 ± 3.03 ng/ml) (p Conclusion Serum MMP-7 appears to be a valuable diagnostic marker in the discrimination of cholangiocarcinoma from benign biliary tract disease. Further prospective studies for serum MMP-7 measurement should be carried out to further investigate the potential of this molecule as a biomarker of cholangiocarcinoma.