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. 2010 Jan 20;101(5):1300–1308. doi: 10.1111/j.1349-7006.2010.01506.x

Figure 3.

Figure 3

 Hematoxylin–eosin (H&E) staining and matrix metalloproteinase 7 (MMP‐7) immuno‐histochemical analysis of normal‐appearing urothelium, bladder cancer tissue, and both positive and tumor‐free lymph nodes. Protein expression pattern of MMP‐7 in bladder tissue: In normal urothelium (NE) a diffuse staining for MMP‐7 is visible. In pTa, the superficial stage of bladder cancer, the tumor epithelium (TuE) shows a diffuse MMP‐7 staining. In a part of the invasive urinary bladder cancer (UBC), tumor cell clusters or single tumor cells strongly positive for MMP‐7 (arrows) were found within the tumor tissue side by side with tumor cells appearing negative for MMP‐7. While lymph nodes without metastatic tumor cells were completely negative for MMP‐7, lymph nodes containing metastatic tumor cells exhibited a strong staining for MMP‐7. Remarkably, both the metastatic tumor cells as well as the lymphocytes were positive for MMP‐7.