Abstract: Objective To observe expression of membrane-type 1 matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MT1-MMP) and matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and its relation to clinicopathological characteristics in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and basal cell epithelioma (BCE). Methods The expression of MT1-MMP and MMP-2 was determined in situ hybridization and ABC immunohistochemical technique respectively in 48 cutaneous SCCs and 41 BCEs. Results The expression of MT1-MMP and MMP-2 in SCC was significantly higher than that in BCE (P<0.05) marked correlation was found between the expression of MT1-MMP and MMP-2 (r=0.370, P<0.05). The expression of MT1-MMP was significantly higher in SCC with lymph node metastasis or well-differentiated SCC (P<0.05). But an evident up-regulation of MMP-2 was only found in SCC with lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). There was no any correlation between the expression of MT1-MMP and MMP-2 and the clinical features, such as sex, age, course of disease, tumor-site, primary or metastatic tumors and aggressiveness of the tumor (P>0.05). Conclusions Overexpression of MT1-MMP and MMP-2 might be related to lymphatic metastasis in SCC. Expression levels of MT1-MMP and MMP-2 may not be responsible for the differentiation in aggressiveness of BCE.

Key words: Carcinoma, squamous cell, Carcinoma, basal cell, Matrix metalloproteinases