Relationship between RECK/matrix metalloproteinase and recurrence/metastasis of giant cell tumor of spine

Giant cell tumor of spine (GCTS) is one common benign tumor with high recurrence rate after surgery. The finding of novel index for predicting recurrence is thus of critical importance. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) can work as prognostic indexes for various tumors, and is shown to be negatively related with RECK gene expression. This study thus examined the levels of MMP-2, MMP-9 and RECK in GCTS patients, in order to elucidate the correlation between gene expression and recurrent tumors. Tumor tissues were collected to examine the expressional profiles of MMP-2, MMP-9 and RECK genes, along with post-operative follow-ups on all patients. The correlation between gene expression and clinical features was analyzed by SPSS 13.0 software. There was a significant correlation between Enneking stage or Campanacci grade with the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9 and RECK genes (P<0.05). Those genes were unrelated with patients’ age or sex (P>0.05). The recurrence of tumor is correlated with expression of RECK, MMP-2 and MMP-9 in tumor tissues (P<0.05). Using Logistic regression, enhanced RECK expression can decrease the risk of GCTS recurrence while MMP-9 up-regulation increased the risk of recurrence (P<0.05). No significant correlation existed between MMP-2 and recurrence. RECK/MMP-9 expressions are closely correlated with the recurrence of GCTS, and can works as important indexes predicting tumor prognosis.