Abstract: ObjectiveTo study the expressions of matrix metalloproteinase13 (MMP13) and p73 in gastric adenocarcinoma, and to explore the associations of the expressions of MMP13 and p73 with the clinicopathological features, and to evaluate their clinical significances for the prognosis of gastric adenocarcinoma metastasis. MethodsThe immunohistochemistry SP methods was used to evaluate the expressions of MMP13 and p73 in 143 cases of gastric adenocarcinoma and 55 normal tissues adjacent to carcinoma, and their associations to the clinicopathologic features were analyzed. ResultsThe expression of MMP13 in gastric adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues of cancer (67.13% vs 16.35%), with a significant difference (χ2=41.10, P=0.000). The expression of p73 in gastric adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than that in adjacent tissues of cancer (58.74% vs 12.73%), with a significant difference (χ2=33.86, P=0.000). In the gastric adenocarcinoma, the expression of MMP13 was associated with peripheral lymph node metastasis (χ2=11.835, P=0.001), depth of invasion (χ2=5.177, P=0.032) and TNM stage (χ2=11.107, P=0.001), but it was not correlated with the ages of patients (χ2=0.113, P=0.853), tumor size (χ2=0.338, P=0.591) and tumor differentiation level (χ2=3.628, P=0.072). In the gastric adenocarcinoma, the expression of p73 was associated with peripheral lymph node metastasis (χ2=11.440, P=0.001), tumor differentiation level (χ2=5.407, P=0.025) and TNM stage (χ2=9.497, P=0.003), but it was not correlated with the ages of patients (χ2=1.567, P=0.222), tumor size (χ2=0.841, P=0.392) and depth of invasion (χ2=0.554, P=0.498). The expression of MMP13 was positively correlated with the expression of p73 in gastric adenocarcinoma group (r=0.684, P=0.000). ConclusionBoth MMP13 and p73 may participate in the development of gastric adenocarcinoma, which can be used as an important index for the evaluation of invasiveness and metastasis in gastric adenocarcinoma.

Key words: Stomach neoplasms, Adenocarcinoma, Immunohistochemistry, Matrix metalloproteinase 13, p73