An immunohistochemical study was performed using tissue arrays and specific antibodies against MMPs -1, -2, -7, -9, -11, -13, -14, and TIMPs -1, -2 and -3. More than 5,000 determinations on cancer specimens from 124 patients with invasive breast cancer were performed at the center of the tumor and the invasive front. Immunostaining for MMPs/TIMPs by fibroblasts was evaluated. To identify specific groups of tumors with distinct expression profiles, the data obtained from both fibroblast populations were analyzed by unsupervised hierarchical cluster analysis. Intratumor stromal fibroblasts more frequently showed expression of MMP-2, -7, and -14, and TIMP-3, but less frequently of MMP-9 than fibroblasts at the invasive front. Multivariate analysis showed that a high profile of MMPs and TIMPs staining in both fibroblast populations was the most potent predictor factor of distant metastases, whereas a low staining profile in fibroblasts was associated with a low risk of metastases.

LBVI provides additional useful information that could be applied to identify gastric cancer patients at risk for recurrence, who might be candidates for further adjuvant therapies.

Based on classical clinicopathological factors as well as on some new biological parameters we have been able to identify subgroups of mastectomized patients with LR differing in their prognosis. Thus, at the present time it would be possible to select group of patients candidates for further and individualized therapeutic strategies.

MMP-13 appears to be a factor associated with tumor aggressiveness in CMM. It seems to eliminate an important barrier not only against tumoral invasion but also against proliferation.

Our findings demonstrating the absence of MMP-13 expression in non-inflamed colonic mucosa or in acute diverticulitis, as well as a positive correlation between elevated MMP-13 expression and histological criteria of inflammation in patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (CD and UC) suggest a role of the protease in the pathogenesis of these latter processes.