Purpose: Expression of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases (TIMP)-1 in colorectal cancer tissue is known to be related to disease progression; however, the clinical significance of measuring the blood level of TIMP-1, which we evaluate herein, has not yet been clarified.
Methods: The serum level of TIMP-1 was measured by a one-step enzyme immunoassay in 123 patients who underwent resection of primary colorectal cancer.
Results: An elevated level of serum TIMP-1 was associated with advanced Dukes' stage ( P = 0.03), greater diameter of the primary tumor ( P = 0.03), more lymph node metastasis ( P = 0.04), and liver metastasis ( P < 0.001). There was a weakly positive correlation between the serum carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) level and the serum TIMP-1 level. In patients who underwent potentially curative resection, the disease-free survival was not different between those with a high TIMP-1 level (>=203.5 ng/ml, n = 32) and those with a low TIMP-1 level (<203.5 ng/ml, n = 66, P = 0.62). In patients with Dukes' stage D cancer who underwent noncurative resection, the survival times were not different between those with a high TIMP-1 level ( n = 13) and those with a low TIMP-1 level ( n = 10, P = 0.20).
Conclusions: Elevated levels of serum TIMP-1 reflect the extent of colorectal cancer, without a close correlation with the serum CEA level. These findings suggest that measuring the serum TIMP-1 level would not help to predict the prognosis of patients with colorectal cancer.