title: Cathepsin D concentration in breast cancer cytosols: correlation with disease-free interval and overall survival.
abstract: Cathepsin D (CD) is an aspartyl protease implicated in cancer metastasis. In this study of 331 patients, we show that patients with primary breast carcinomas containing high concentrations of CD have a significantly shorter disease-free interval (chi-square = 4.28, P < 0.05) and overall survival (chi-square = 7.7, P < 0.01) than patients with low concentrations. CD as a prognostic marker for overall survival was equally valuable for women younger (chi-square = 4.39, P < 0.05) and older (chi-square = 3.97, P < 0.05) than 50 years. CD was also a significant prognostic marker for overall survival within the estradiol receptor (ER)-positive subgroup of patients (chi-square = 5.79, P < 0.025), but not in the ER-negative subgroup. Patients with tumors containing high concentrations of CD and low concentrations of ER had shorter disease-free intervals (chi-square = 15.1, P < 0.001) and lower overall survival (chi-square = 20.9, P < 0.001) than patients with high concentrations of ER but low concentrations of CD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear Medicine, St. Vincent's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Duffy
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reilly
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Brouillet
authors.forename: E W
authors.initials: EW
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Faul
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: O'Higgins
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Fennelly
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Maudelonde
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Rochefort
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000401:mortality; D002402:Cathepsin D / Q000032:analysis*; D003600:Cytosol / Q000201:enzymology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D011959:Receptors, Estradiol / Q000032:analysis; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D011959:Receptors, Estradiol; D002402:Cathepsin D