Molecules associated with tumor invasion and metastasis have been actively investigated, but their prognostic significance has been variously reported by investigators. We evaluated the expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1, MMP-2, MMP-3, MMP-9, MMP-10, tissue inhibitor of MMPs (TIMP)-1, TIMP-2, β-catenin, E-cadherin and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in 43 cases of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Immunohistochemistry of each marker was performed on tissue microarray paraffin blocks, and the results were determined by a semi-quantitative method using an intensity score (0-3) and percentage score (0-3). The expression scores of each marker were correlated with TNM stage and patient survival data. The expression of MMP-3 and COX-2 was significantly increased in higher stage tumors (P<0.001 and P=0.046, respectively), while a correlation with patient survival length was observed for MMP-1 and COX-2 (P=0.034 and 0.019, respectively). All stage I or II cases with increased MMP-1 expression succumbed to NSCLC within 34.1 months. Cases with low expression of both MMP-1 and COX-2 had a significantly longer survival time than cases with high expression of either of the two markers (P=0.002). These results suggest that MMP-1 and COX-2 are plausible candidate survival markers for NSCLC.

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