Background and purpose: Skin cancer is one of the most common types of cancer. Several studies suggest a high incidence of skin cancer in most countries. TIMP-2 is the tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase and exist in both cancer and normal cells. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of TIMP-2 gene in patients with skin cancer and evaluating the association between the expression of this gene and the disease progression.

Materials and methods: In this study 60 FFPE samples of skin cancer (n=30) and noncarcinoma cases (n=30) were collected from Tehran Milad Hospital. The cancer patients aged 30 to 80 years old. RNA was extracted using RNX solution, and then cDNA synthesis was carried out by Oligo dT and Random Hexamer primers and MMulV enzyme. The gene expression was evaluated by Real-time PCR.

Results: The TIMP-2 gene expression in carcinoma samples increased 1.13 folds compared to normal tissue samples. Also a direct correlation was seen between tumor size and TIMP-2 gene expression. In fact the gene expression in tumors= 2 cm was more than 6.72 compared with normal samples
(P<0.0005). The mean expression levels of TIMP-2 gene in tumors<1 cm and 1-2 cm were 0.57 and 1.003, respectively (P< 0.001). Moreover, the TIMP-2 gene expression was found to be higher in male.

Conclusion: According to current findings, expression of TIMP-2 gene has a considerable role in skin cancer development. In other words, the gene expression increases by increase in tumor size and patients age. So, it seems that TIMP-2 gene expression could be a reliable biomarker for evaluation of skin cancer in early stages.