title: Hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor is present in most pleural effusion fluids from cancer patients.
abstract: Pleural effusion samples were obtained from 55 patients with malignant disease, including patients with primary lung cancers and those with a variety of other tumours metastatic to the pleura. The effusions were assayed for the presence of hepatocyte growth factor/scatter factor (HGF/SF), by both ELISA and bioassay. The presence of malignant cells in the effusions was also assessed. Detectable amounts of the factor, as judged by both criteria, were found in over 90% of all the effusions, including those from patients with a wide variety of carcinomas and also lymphomas. A wide range of HGF/SF levels were found for all tumour classes, some effusions containing high levels above 4 ng ml-1. It is concluded that tumours within the pleura and adjacent lung tissue are usually exposed to biologically significant levels of HGF/SF.
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Eagles
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Warn
authors.forename: R Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Baillie-Johnson
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Arakaki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Daikuhara
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Warn
mesh_terms: D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism*; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007938:Leukemia / Q000378:metabolism*; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000378:metabolism*; D010996:Pleural Effusion / Q000378:metabolism*; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor