Elevated serum MMP-1 associated with advanced disease stage and lymph node metastasis in patients with pancreatic carcinoma.

Pancreatic cancer is a malignancy with extremely poor prognosis. This study aimed to investigate the application value of tumour markers and matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) in predicting clinical staging and lymph node metastasis of pancreatic cancer. Totally, 130 pancreatic cancer patients and 40 healthy controls admitted to Haian Hospital Affiliated to Nantong University from January 2018 to January 2022 were collected. The expression of MMP-1, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), carbohydrate antigen 199 (CA199), and carbohydrate antigen 125 (CA125) were detected in their serum. MMP-1 was highly expressed in pancreatic cancer tissue, and MMP-1, CA199, CA125, and CEA could serve as diagnostic markers for pancreatic cancer. MMP-1 and CA199 had higher diagnostic value for early pancreatic cancer. Additionally, MMP-1 also demonstrated high predictive value for lymph node metastasis. Multivariate Cox regression analysis identified TNM staging, differentiation, MMP-1, and CA199 as independent risk factors affecting the overall survival of pancreatic cancer patients. The risk score model constructed based on Cox regression coefficients could better predict the prognosis of pancreatic cancer patients. MMP-1 demonstrates promising application value in determining clinical staging and lymph node metastasis of pancreatic cancer.