Expression of VEGF and MMP-9 and MRI imaging changes in cerebral glioma.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) expression with the histopathological grading of tumors in cerebral glioma. A total of 45 patients with pathologically confirmed cerebral glioma were divided into two groups: a low-grade group (grades I and II, 21 cases) and a high-grade group (grades III and IV, 24 cases). Immunohistochemical staining of tumor samples showed the percentages of tumors expressing VEGF and MMP-9 in the high-grade group to be 95.83 and 75%, respectively, significantly higher than those of the low-grade group (66.67 and 23.81%, P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively). The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) results indicated that the peripheral edema index (EI), enhancement percentage (EP), and the maximum diameter of the tumor in the high-grade group were significantly higher than those in the low-grade group (P<0.05, P<0.01, and P<0.05). Moreover, the expression of VEGF and MMP-9 was positively correlated with EI, EP and the maximum diameter of the tumor (P<0.05). Therefore, VEGF and MMP-9 expression were correlated to the invasion of glioma. The association of their expression levels with EI, EP and the maximum tumor diameter indicates that these markers may be used to estimate tumor malignancy for future clinical diagnosis and treatment.