Neoplastic growth and dissemination involve increased proteolytic activity that is able to escape the regulative elements.
Matrix metalloproteinases (
MMPs), particularly
gelatinases A and B (MMP-2 and -9), play a role in
tumor invasion and angiogenesis, and they participate in
cancer progression in several
neoplasias. The expression of tissue inhibitors of
gelatinases, TIMPs-1 and -2, has also been shown to be associated with the
clinical course in some
cancers. The prognostic value of these markers, however, seems to vary a great deal in different neoplastic diseases. In this review, the impact of the
gelatinases and their inhibitors on the
clinical course in several solid
cancers is evaluated based on the growing data from recent clinical studies. The clinical data most often explore the overexpression of
mRNA or immunoreactive
protein in
tumor tissue, or measure the concentration of the circulating
proteinase or its inhibitor in pretreatment or follow-up serum samples. The growing amount of recent clinical data suggests that the impact of
gelatinases on treatment decisions should be tested in clinical trials.