Effect of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMP) on course and prognosis of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma

The paper compares the levels of TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 in blood serum from patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) to establish correlations with clinico-morphological parameters of the disease and prognosis. Our study involved 140 patients with HNSCC (T1-3N0-3M0) and 38 healthy donors. The level of serum TIMP-1 in patients was significantly higher (p < or = 0.02) while that of TIMP-2 was in inverse correlation with histological grade of tumor (p < or = 0.04) and age (p < or = 0.05). High level of TIMP-1 appeared an unfavorable prognosticator for 2-year relapse-free survival in HNSCC patients (p < or = 0.05). Those of both TIMP-1 and TIMP-2 identified in blood serum prior to therapy involved high risk of metastasis development (p < or = 0.05) and (p < or = 0.05), respectively.