Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are proteolytic enzymes capable of degrading extracellular matrix. Their role has been emphasized in @entity5 invasion, @entity3 and @entity5 -induced angiogenesis. We studied the expression of collagenase-1 ( @entity3334 ), stromelysin-1 ( @entity1549 ) and @entity1550 ) in 70 melanoma @entity3 obtained from 56 @entity1 treated with combined chemoimmunotherapy. The @entity1 were divided into 2 groups using a cut-off point of 0% for @entity3334 expression and 20% for @entity1549 expression. We found that @entity1 with @entity3334 positive @entity3 (n = 38) had significantly shorter disease-free survival compared to @entity1 with @entity3334 negative @entity3 (n = 18) (median 11.2 vs. 17.0 months, p = 0.0383). The disease-free survival of @entity1 with high levels of @entity1549 expression in their @entity3 (> or = 20% positive @entity5 cells, n = 14) was also significantly shorter compared to @entity1 with lower levels of expression (n = 42) (median 5.1 vs. 14.0 months, p = 0.0294). The expression of @entity1550 did not correlate to survival parameters. We also found that the presence of melanin, a pigment produced by melanocytes, correlated with high expression levels of @entity3334 (p = 0.0002), @entity1549 (p < 0.0001) and @entity1550 (p = 0.0009). The high expression levels of @entity1550 were also associated with the presence of visceral @entity3 (p = 0.0284). Our findings suggest that @entity12653 may have a special role in melanoma @entity3 formation and thus they could be used to measure the biological activity of the disease.

High expression levels of collagenase-1 and stromelysin-1 correlate with shorter disease-free survival in XXXX metastatic melanoma.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['patients'] @entity3334 :: ('4312', 'Gene') :: ['MMP-1'] @entity5 :: ('MESH:D009369', 'Disease') :: ['tumor'] @entity1549 :: ('4314', 'Gene') :: ['MMP-3'] @entity1550 :: ('4322', 'Gene') :: ['collagenase-3 (MMP-13', 'MMP-13'] @entity3 :: ('MESH:D009362', 'Disease') :: ['metastasis', 'metastases'] @entity12653 :: ('4312;4314', 'Gene') :: ['MMP-1 and -3']
@entity1 :: (9606,Species) :: ['human']
