Objective To screen out the differently expressed cytokines at mRNA level from TGF-α and TGF-β ligands ( TGF-β1, TGF-β2, TGF-β3 ), TIMP-1, TIMP-2 and MMP-2 in non-small cell lung cancer ( NSCLC) tissues, and to explore the relationships with the clinicopathological characteristics of NSCLC. Methods The mRNA expression of TGF-α, TGF-β1, TGF-β2, TGF-β3, TIMP-1, TIMP-2 and MMP-2 were detected by quan-titative RT-PCR. The relationships between the expression and clinical parameters were analyzed, such as age, gen-der, smoking, histological type, TNM stage, and lymph node metastasis. Results TGF-α and TGF-β1 mRNA ex-pression was markedly higher in NSCLC tissues than in normal tissues ( 0. 046 vs 0. 005, P =0. 006; 16. 91 vs 11. 76, P=0. 04), while TIMP-2 level was lower in tumor tissues (25. 23 vs 207. 85, P=0. 02). MMP-2/TIMP-2 was up-regulated in NSCLC tissues (0. 77 vs 0. 02, P=0. 04). TGF-α expression in NSCLC of III-IV stage was significantly higher that of I-II stage (0. 06 vs 0. 02, P<0. 01). In NSCLC tissues with lymph node metastasis, TGF-β1 level was up-regulated (17. 70 vs 10. 00, P <0. 01), while TIMP-2 level was down-regulated (20. 56 vs 30. 02, P=0. 03). TIMP-2 expression in adenocarcinoma was relatively higher than in squamous cell carcinoma (33. 51 vs 20. 06, P=0. 02). Conclusion TGF-α mRNA level is positively related to the progression of NSCLC. The high expression of TGF-β1 plays an important role in the development and metastasis of NSCLC. MMP-2/TIMP-2 may be a sensitive biomarker index for NSCLC. In tumor tissues, down-regulated level of TIMP-2 indicates en-hanced metastasis risk, and relative higher expression of TIMP-2 may implicate adenocarcinoma.%目的：从TGF-α、TGF-β配体成员( TGF-β1、TGF-β2、TGF-β3)、TIMP-1、TIMP-2、MMP-2筛选在非小细胞肺癌( NSCLC)中mRNA水平异常表达的细胞因子,并探讨其临床意义。方法实时定量PCR法检测NSCLC组织和毗邻正常组织中TGF-α、TGF-β1、TGF-β2、TGF-β3、TIMP-1、TIMP-2、MMP-2 mRNA表达量,并研究其与患者临床病理特征之间的关系。结果 NSCLC组织中TGF-α、TGF-β1表达量均明显高于正常组织(0．046 vs 0．005,P<0．01；16．91 vs 11．76,P=0．04),TIMP-2水平降低(25．23 vs 207．85,P=0．02),而NSCLC中MMP-2/TIMP-2显著高于正常肺组织(0．77 vs 0．02,P=0．04)。 III-IV期NSCLC组织的TGF-α水平高于I-II期(0．06 vs 0．02,P <0．01)。有淋巴结转移组 TGF-β1水平高于无淋巴结转移组(17．70 vs 10．00,P <0．01)。鳞癌组织中TIMP-2水平低于腺癌组织(20．06 vs 33．51,P=0．02),无淋巴结转移组TIMP-2水平高于有淋巴结转移组(30．02 vs 20．56,P=0．03)。结论 TGF-α与NSCLC进展密切相关；TGF-β1在NSCLC的发生、发展、侵袭转移中发挥重要作用；MMP-2/TIMP-2可能是较敏感的肿瘤生物学指标,且TIMP-2与NSCLC侵袭转移相关,相对高表达的TIMP-2可能提示腺癌。
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