TIMP-1 and MMP-7 correlate with the presence of colon involvement (P = 0.001; P = 0.012) and the presence of liver metastases (P = 0.002; P = 0.037), and negatively correlate with pulmonary metastases (P = 0.014; P = 0.005).
In a syngeneic murine model of experimental liver metastasisTimp-1 expression and Met signaling were localized within metastatic colonies and expressed by tumor cells.
Here, we show that elevated stromal expression of TIMP-1 promotes liver metastasis in two independent tumor models by inducing the hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) signaling pathway and expression of several metastasis-associated genes, including HGF and HGF-activating proteases, in the liver.
The liver tumor biopsies were obtained from 40 patients suffering from CLM treated with radical surgery. mRNA expression levels of CEA, MMPs and TIMPs and a housekeeping gene (GAPDH) were quantified using RT-PCR.
The levels of TIMP-1, MMP-2 and MMP-9 mRNA were significantly higher in primary colorectal cancers than in their adjacent normal tissues, and those of the mRNAs for all four genes were significantly higher in liver metastases than in normal colorectal tissues.
Our data demonstrate a distinct pattern of MMP-9 and TIMP-1 mRNA expression in colorectal cancer and liver metastases suggesting distinct cellular origins as well as separate patterns of regulation.