Predictive and prognostic value of Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) - 9 in neoadjuvant chemotherapy for triple-negative breast cancer patients

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to investigate the clinical utility of serum and histological MMP-9 detection during neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC) for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). METHODS: A total of 303 TNBC patients who underwent weekly paclitaxel plus carboplatin treatments followed by surgical resection were included in this study. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the serum level of Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (sMMP-9) at baseline and prior to surgery. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect histological MMP-9 (hMMP-9) expression in patients with residual tumors after NAC. The value of MMP-9 to predict the response to NAC and patient survival was studied. RESULTS: Of the 303 patients, 103 (34.0%) patients experienced pathological complete response (pCR) after completion of NAC. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed that the relative change in sMMP-9, rather than sMMP-9 at baseline or surgery, had a remarkable predictive value for pCR. Each 1 ng/ml decrease in sMMP-9 after NAC was shown to result in a 0.3% increase in pCR rate. Additionally, in survival analyses, hMMP-9 expression in residual tumors was independently correlated with disease-free survival for non-pCR responders (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that monitoring serum MMP-9 and detection of histological MMP-9 could help identify TNBC patients who will respond to NAC and will display varying risks of disease relapse. MMP-9 may serve as a predictive and prognostic biomarker for tailoring and modifying the NAC strategy for TNBC.