High gene expression of matrix metalloproteinase-7 is associated with early stages of oral cancer

Background: In the light of the recently found contribution of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) to oral oncogenesis, the correlation of MMP- 7 with risk for oral cancer was investigated. Materials and Methods: The MMP-7 -181A/G polymorphism in 159 German and Greek patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma and 120 healthy controls of equivalent gender and ethnicity was studied. Results: The detected carrier frequency of the high expression G allele was significantly; higher in patients compared to controls (74.8% versus 61.7%, p=0.0257). This significant difference was more pronounced in patients with early stages of cancer and absent in those with advanced stages. A/G heterozygotes have a double relative risk (OR 2.07, 95%, CI 1.17-3.67) of developing early stages of oral cancer than low expression AIA homozygotes. Conclusion: MMP-7 gene expression is associated with increased risk only for early stages of oral cancer, possibly due to the inhibitory effect of MMP-7 in angiogenesis.