Abstract: Pilot Study of Expression of CCR7,MMP-9 and VEGF in T-cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas WANG Sheng-Yi, ZHAO Guo-Fan, YANG Jing, BAI Xue, ZHANG Yun-Xiao, XU Xiu-Li Department of Pathology, Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin 300070, China ABSTRACT Objective: To investigate the expression and clinical significance of Chemokine C Receptor-7（CCR7）,Matrix Metalloproteinase-9(MMP-9) and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor(VEGF)in T-cell non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas(T-NHL).Methods: Specimens of 41 T-NHL cases and 19 reactive lymphoid hyperplasia cases were collected along with their clinicopathologic data. The expression of CCR7,MMP-9 and VEGF were detected using immunohistochemical staining and were then used to study the correlation between the expression and clinicopathologic factors. Results:The expression of CCR7,MMP-9 and VEGF were high in T-NHL group while low in the control group and the overexpression rates in T-NHL group were 85.37%,90.24%,56.10%, respectively.There was a significant difference in the overexpression rates of CCR7 and MMP-9 betwween the cases with more than one lesions and with single lesion, 92.86% vs 69.23% (Pc=0.001)，92.86% vs 84.62% （Pm=0.041），respectively. There was also a significant difference in the overexpression rates of MMP-9 between the groups classified according to their size(smaller or greater than 3cm),81.25% vs 96.00%(P=0.024).There was no correlation among the expression of CCR7, MMP-9 and VEGF.Conclusion: Overexpression of CCR7, MMP-9 and VEGF were detected in T-cell non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas and the overexpression of these protein are unfavorable factors influencing prognosis of T-NHL patients.

Key words: T-NHL, CCR7, MMP-9, VEGF, prognosis