J Cancer Res Clin Oncol (2011) 137:551–555 DOI 10.1007/s00432-010-0906-8 123 ORIGINAL PAPER Comparative study of stromal metalloproteases expression in patients with benign hyperplasia and prostate cancer Safwan EscaV · Jesús M. Fernández · Luis O. González · Aurelio Suárez · Salomé González-Reyes · José M. González · Francisco J. Vizoso Received: 9 February 2010 / Accepted: 26 April 2010 / Published online: 28 May 2010  Springer-Verlag 2010 Abstract Purpose The aim of the present work was to perform a comparative study of stromal cell expressions of MMPs and TIMPs between benign and malignant prostate tissues. Methods An immunohistochemical study was performed using speciWc antibodies against metalloproteases (MMPs) ¡1, ¡2, ¡7, 9, 11, 13, 14 and their tissue inhibitors (TIMPs) ¡1, 2 and 3, on prostate specimens from 133 patients with clinical localized prostate carcinoma and from 50 patients with BPH. Results Our results showed higher percentages of expres- sions of MMPs and TIMPs by Wbroblasts or by mononu- clear inXammatory cells (MICs) in prostate carcinomas compared to these cells in BPH. The detection of MMP-2 expression by stromal Wbroblasts and/or MMP-2, 9 and TIMP-3 expression by stromal MICs was associated with a 100% of speciWcity for diagnoses of prostate cancer. We found that the combination of MMP-2 expression by Wbro- blasts and/or MMP-9 by MICs and/or TIMP-2 by MICs yielded a sensitivity of 47.4%. Conclusions Despite of a limited sensitivity (50%), the combination of MMP-TIMPs expression in stromal cells (MMP-2 by Wbroblasts and TIMPs by MICs) in our study provided a speciWcity of 100% for prostate cancer diagnosis. Keywords Prostate carcinoma · Tissue arrays · Prognosis · MMP · Tumour invasion · PSA Introduction Prostate biopsy is the initial procedure of choice in the diagnosis of prostate carcinoma. With the clinical introduc- tion of prostate-speciWc antigen (PSA), a new indication for prostate biopsy arose, speciWcally an elevated PSA in the absence of any abnormality on digital rectal examination (DRE) or symptoms (Stamey et al. 1987). Despite the intro- duction of systematic biopsy and random sampling of the prostate, a signiWcant incidence of positive repeat biopsy in men with elevated PSA who had an initial negative biopsy has been demonstrated. In men with persistent suspicion of prostate cancer after several negative biopsies, more extensive protocols up to saturation biopsy represent a procedure that has proven to have a safe proWle. However, the optimal protocol to iden- tify all patients with prostate cancer at the earliest stage possible for optimal treatment, outcome and survival is still not known. In this context, more sensitive and speciWc markers for better deWning at risk subgroups of prostate cancer among patients with negative initial biopsy are greatly necessary. Typically, the evaluation of prognostic factors has been only performed in malignant epithelial cells. How- ever, local invasion and tumour progression are criti- cally dependent on the adjacent stroma. The inXuence of S. EscaV · A. Suárez Servicio de Urología, Hospital de Jove, Avda. Eduardo Castro s/n, 33920 Gijón, Asturias, Spain J. M. Fernández Servicio de Urología, Hospital Universitario Central de Asturias, Asturias, Spain L. O. González · S. González-Reyes · J. M. González · F. J. Vizoso (&) Unidad de Investigación, Hospital de Jove, 33920 Gijón, Asturias, Spain e-mail: investigacion@hospitaldejove.com