Abstract: AIM: To detect the expressions of MMP-14 and cathepsin D(Cath-D), and investigate their significance on different clinical characteristic in esophageal squamous cell carcinonma, for providing help to clinical work. METHODS: The study included 95 cases of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma as observation group, 70 cases of normal esophageal tissue as control group. We detected the expressions of MMP-14 and Cath-D by IHC methods in two groups. RESULTS: The positive rate of MMP-14 and Cath-D were higher in the observation group than in control group. The positive rate of MMP-14 and Cath-D were correlated with tumor diameter, differentiation and Ki67 expressions. There was positive correlationship between MMP-14 and Cath-D in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The expressions of MMP-14 and Cath-D were correlated with prognosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. CONCLUSION: The high-expressions of MMP-14 and Cath-D may promote the occurrence and development in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. The joint detection of MMP-14 and Cath-D may be helpful to predict the prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Key words: Esophageal, Squamous cell carcinoma, MMP-14, Cath-D, Prognosis, IHC