title: Clinical significance of cathepsin D in primary ovarian cancer.
abstract: Cathepsin D (Cath D) levels were assayed in a prospective series of 72 patients with primary ovarian carcinoma, by using an immunoradiometric assay. Cath D levels ranged from 2.00 to 45.60 pmol/mg protein with a median value of 15.80 pmol/mg protein. Cath D levels were higher in metastatic deposits than in primary tumors (median 24.12, range 9.33-98.33 pmol/mg protein versus median 12.76, range 2.00-45.20 pmol/mg protein; P = 0.04). The cut-off levels of the lower, median and upper quartiles of the distribution of Cath D were identified to distinguish patients with low, intermediate, and high Cath D content. Cases with low Cath D content showed a lower percentage of complete response to chemotherapy than cases with intermediate and high Cath D content (22% versus 65% and 47%, respectively) (P = 0.003). Moreover cases with high Cath D content showed a worse prognosis with respect to patients with intermediate Cath D levels (P = 0.09). Interestingly, cases with low Cath D content had a shorter progression-free survival with respect to cases with intermediate Cath D content (P = 0.04). Cath D status retained an independent prognostic value when assessed in the multivariate analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Scambia
authors.forename: P B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Panici
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ferrandina
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Salerno
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: D'Agostino
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Distefano
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: de Vincenzo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ercoli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mancuso
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002402:Cathepsin D / Q000032:analysis*; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015592:Immunoradiometric Assay; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality*; D011379:Prognosis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016019:Survival Analysis
chemical_list: D002402:Cathepsin D