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The plasminogen‐activation system in ovarian tumors
Author(s) -
PujadeLauraine E.,
Lu H.,
Mirshahi S.,
Soria J.,
Soria C.,
Bernadou A.,
Kruithof E. K. O.,
Lijnen H. R.,
Burtin P.
Publication year - 1993
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.2910550106
Subject(s) - plasminogen activator , ovarian cancer , malignancy , ovarian carcinoma , pathology , medicine , metastasis , stage (stratigraphy) , ovary , ovarian tumor , cancer , ovarian carcinomas , cancer research , biology , paleontology
We studied the plasminogen activation system in tumor tissue by measuring the antigen level of the 2 plasminogen activators, tissue‐type (t‐PA) and urokinase‐type (U‐PA) and their inhibitors, plasminogen‐activator inhibitors type‐1 (PAI‐1) and type‐2 (PAI‐2) in the tissue extracts of 43 human benign and malignant ovarian tumors. U‐PA levels were significantly higher in malignant than in benign tumors. In addition, U‐PA antigen levels were higher in the metastatic tissue of advanced disease (FIGO stage III) than in the primary localized tumor (FIGO stage I/II). Also PAI‐1 concentrations tended to be higher in malignant than in benign tumors, but this difference was not statistically significant. In contrast, t‐PA levels were lower in metastatic than in non‐metastatic tumors, whereas PAI‐2 levels were unrelated to the stage of ovarian malignancy. These results were integrated in a plasminogen‐activation‐dependent malignancy index (U‐PA × PAI‐1/t‐PA). This index distinguished the different groups of benign ovarian tumors, localized and metastatic ovarian carcinomas better than U‐PA levels. It could be useful as a prognostic indicator in ovarian cancer © 1993 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.