Relationship between metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression and clinicopathology in colorectal cancer: a cross-sectional study

Introduction: According to the WHO's GLOBOCAN database, similar to 1,931,590 new colorectal cancer (CRC) cases and 915,607 CRC related deaths occurred in 2020. The incidence of CRC in Indonesia is 8.6%, making it the fourth most common cancer. With CRC, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) has a role in tumour development and progression, such that patients with a higher MMP-9 expression had poorer survival. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between MMP-9 expression and clinicopathology in CRC patients. Methods: This was an analytic observational study with a cross-sectional research design. It was conducted from November 2021 to June 2022 with 52 patient tissue samples: these were subjected to MMP-9 immunohistochemistry stain, with the GeneTex (Irvine) MMP-9 monoclonal antibody. Patient data were collected with clinical variables based on medical records and histopathological examination by anatomy pathologists. Results: Primary tumour location, cancer staging, and histopathology grading were associated with MMP-9 (P = 0.016, P = 0.001, P = 0.049). The more proximal to the primary tumour, the higher the stage of cancer, and the higher the histopathological grade, thus the greater the expression of MMP-9. Conclusion: A significant relationship existed of primary tumour location, cancer staging, and histopathology grading with MMP-9 expression in CRC patients. MMP-9 expression could be a useful indicator for the clinical assessment of tumour biologic behaviour and prognosis in CRC patients.