Increased plasma matrix metalloproteinase 1 is associated with the presence of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) patients are usually diagnosed at late stages, prohibiting the chance of surgical cure. The obstacle partly comes from the lack of molecular markers for early detection. Moreover, there is no consensus about endoscopic surveillance for ESCC. This study aimed to identify noninvasive markers for ESCC detection. By microarray-based screening of 17 pairs of human ESCC specimens, we identified that secreted protein matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP1) may be associated with the presence of ESCC. The tumor and adjacent normal tissues were obtained from 17 male ESCC patients who underwent total esophagectomy without previous cancer treatment at Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital (KMUH)