Abstract: To investigate the expressions of matrix metalloproteinase-14 (MMP-14) and extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer (EMMPRIN) in retinoblastoma(Rb) and the relationships between MMP-14 and EMMPRIN and tumor development. MethodsImmunohistochemical technique was used to determine the expressions of MMP-14 and EMMPRIN in 39 cases of paraffin embedded Rb samples. Quantitative analysis of the expressions of MMP-14 and EMMPRIN were assessed by measuring the mean gray scale of Rb tissue with LEICA IM 50 Color Pathologic Analysis System. Differences of the expressions of MMP-14 and EMMPRIN in each clinical and pathological stage were statistically analyzed, and the same step was also undertaken to study the relationship between Rb with MMP-14 positive expression and that with EMMPRIN positive expression. ResultsPositive expression rate of MMP-14 was 87.18% (34/39) and of EMMPRIN was 84.62%(33/39). The expressions of MMP-14 and EMMPRIN were significantly higher in tumors of glaucomatous stage than those in intraocular stage (P＜0.01 and P＜0.05), and the same conclusion can be concluded between those in extraocular stage and those in glaucomatous stage (P＜0.01 and P＜0.05), also the expressions of MMP-14 and EMMPRIN were significantly higher in tumors with optic nerve invasion than those without optic nerve invasion (P＜0.01 and P＜0.05). There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the expression of MMP-14 and the expression of EMMPRIN (P＜0.01). Conclusion Positive expression levels of MMP-14 and EMMPRIN may correlate with tumor invasion and metastasis and they may facilitate the Rb′ invasion and metastasis together.

Key words: Retinoblastoma, Matrix metalloproteinase14, Extracellular matrix metalloproteinase inducer, Immunohistochemistry