A comparative study of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 levels in plasma and tumour tissue from patients with primary breast cancer and in plasma from patients with metastatic breast cancer

TY - JOUR

T1 - A comparative study of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 levels in plasma and tumour tissue from patients with primary breast cancer and in plasma from patients with metastatic breast cancer

AU - Rasmussen, Anne-Sofie Schrohl

AU - Mueller, Volkmar

AU - Christensen, Ib Jarle

AU - Pantel, Klaus

AU - Thomssen, Christoph

AU - Brunner, Nils

N1 - Keywords: Adult; Aged; Breast Neoplasms; Disease Progression; Female; Humans; Middle Aged; Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1; Tumor Markers, Biological

PY - 2008

Y1 - 2008

N2 - OBJECTIVE: Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) has been investigated as a potential tumour marker in breast cancer. Here we investigated the correlation between TIMP-1 in tumour tissue and plasma to evaluate whether TIMP-1 in plasma is actually a surrogate marker for TIMP-1 in primary tumours. Furthermore, we assessed whether increased TIMP-1 levels in plasma could be indicative of tumour progression in patients with advanced breast cancer. METHODS: Tumour tissue and preoperatively collected plasma samples from 96 primary breast cancer patients were included together with plasma samples from 46 patients with advanced disease. TIMP-1 levels were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: TIMP-1 levels in plasma (median 81.5 ng/ml, range 41.9-174.9) and tumour tissue (median 25.4 ng/mg of total protein, range 0-110.2) from primary breast cancer patients were not correlated (r = 0.05, p = 0.6). Plasma levels of TIMP-1 in primary breast cancer patients were significantly lower than levels in patients with advanced disease (median 108.7 ng/ml, range 59.7-560.7; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that TIMP-1 release into the blood might be controlled by an active mechanism. They also point to plasma TIMP-1 as a potential marker for predicting tumour progression and for monitoring tumour burden in metastatic breast cancer patients.

AB - OBJECTIVE: Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) has been investigated as a potential tumour marker in breast cancer. Here we investigated the correlation between TIMP-1 in tumour tissue and plasma to evaluate whether TIMP-1 in plasma is actually a surrogate marker for TIMP-1 in primary tumours. Furthermore, we assessed whether increased TIMP-1 levels in plasma could be indicative of tumour progression in patients with advanced breast cancer. METHODS: Tumour tissue and preoperatively collected plasma samples from 96 primary breast cancer patients were included together with plasma samples from 46 patients with advanced disease. TIMP-1 levels were measured by ELISA. RESULTS: TIMP-1 levels in plasma (median 81.5 ng/ml, range 41.9-174.9) and tumour tissue (median 25.4 ng/mg of total protein, range 0-110.2) from primary breast cancer patients were not correlated (r = 0.05, p = 0.6). Plasma levels of TIMP-1 in primary breast cancer patients were significantly lower than levels in patients with advanced disease (median 108.7 ng/ml, range 59.7-560.7; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that TIMP-1 release into the blood might be controlled by an active mechanism. They also point to plasma TIMP-1 as a potential marker for predicting tumour progression and for monitoring tumour burden in metastatic breast cancer patients.

U2 - 10.1159/000146863

DO - 10.1159/000146863

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 18645261

SN - 1010-4283

VL - 29

SP - 181

EP - 187

JO - Tumor Biology

JF - Tumor Biology

IS - 3

ER -