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Comparative evaluation of urokinase‐type plasminogen activator receptor expression in primary breast carcinomas and on metastatic tumor cells
Author(s) -
Hemsen Alice,
Riethdorf Lutz,
Brünner Nils,
Berger Jürgen,
Ebel Sebastian,
Thomssen Christoph,
Jänicke Fritz,
Pantel Klaus
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.11488
Subject(s) - urokinase receptor , cancer research , metastasis , pathology , lymph node , primary tumor , plasminogen activator , bone marrow , medicine , cancer , biology
The urokinase‐type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR, CD87) plays a central role in the plasminogen activation cascade, which participates in extracellular matrix degradation, cell migration and invasion. Here we performed a comprehensive immmunohistochemical evaluation of uPAR expression in primary tumor cells, tumor‐surrounding fibroblasts, lymph node metastases and micrometastatic cells in bone marrow of patients with breast carcinomas at the time of primary diagnosis. Variable degrees of uPAR staining of tumor cells were observed in 84 of 93 (90%) carcinomas, whereas intratumoral fibroblasts were uPAR‐positive in 70 (75%) carcinomas. The fraction of uPAR‐positive primary tumor cells but not fibroblasts was positively correlated with the presence of tumor cells in bone marrow ( p = 0.037), whereas no correlation with lymph node metastasis was found. Immunophenotyping of bone marrow and lymph node specimens revealed expression of uPAR on metastatic tumor cells in 10 of 13 and 22 of 23 cases, respectively. Direct comparison to the autologous primary tumor cells showed different uPAR staining scores in most patients with evidence for both up‐ and downregulation of uPAR on metastatic cells. Our results indicate that uPAR plays an active role in breast cancer metastasis and may therefore be a promising target for new biologic therapies. © 2003 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.