Objective: The value of Tissue Inhibitor of MetalloProteinase-1 (TIMP-1) as a biomarker in patients with gastric cancer (GC) is widely debated. The aim of this review is to evaluate available literature describing the association between levels of TIMP-1 in tumor tissue and/or blood and the prognosis of patients suffering from GC.
Material and methods: Using the search words 'TIMP-1', 'Gastric Cancer' and 'Tumor marker', a search was carried out on PubMed. Exclusion criteria were articles never published in English, articles from before 1995 and articles evaluating tumor markers other than TIMP-1 in GC.
Results: Of initially 50 articles, 17 were found to fulfill the selection criteria and relevant for this study. The 17 articles evaluated the usefulness of TIMP-1 levels in tumor tissue or blood, respectively, as a prognostic marker in patients with GC.
Conclusions: A literature search showed that elevated protein levels of TIMP-1 in either tumor tissue extracts or in plasma from patients suffering from GC associates with poor patient outcome.