Relationship between cathepsin-D and other prognostic factors in human breast cancer.
Cathepsin-D (CATH-D) is a lysosomal protease induced by estrogens in estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer call lines and constitutively produced by estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer cells. The concentration of CATH-D in the cytosol of 97 human breast tumor tissues was correlated with other well-known prognostic factors for human breast cancer. CATH-D was significantly higher in node-positive than in node-negative tumors (P = 0.042, Kruskal-Wallis test). However, no correlation was found between enzyme levels and the number of positive nodes. CATH-D concentration did not correlate with age, menopausal status, clinical stage of the disease, size of the primary tumor, steroid receptors, thymidine labeling index, histological grade, nuclear grade or cellularity. CATH-D did not show any association with the known prognostic factors evaluated in this study and its association with lymph nodes was only weak.
Glikman
P
P
Endocrine Oncology Section, Hospital J.M. Ramos Mejia, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Rogozinski
A
A
Mosto
J
J
Pollina
A
A
Garbovesky
C
C
Levy
C
C
D001940:Breast / Q000737:chemistry; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D002402:Cathepsin D / Q000032:analysis*; D003600:Cytosol / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000032:analysis
D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D002402:Cathepsin D