title: Urokinase plasminogen activator and its inhibitor, PAI-1, in association with progression-free survival in early stage endometrial cancer.
abstract: Components of the urokinase plasminogen activator (u-PA) system are involved in the metastatic process, and have accordingly been associated with clinical outcome in a variety of malignant tumours. We investigated the prognostic importance of u-PA and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) in endometrial cancer, analysed with luminometric immunoassay (LIA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), respectively. Two different cut-off levels were used: the median and the 80th percentile-the latter because of the low progression rate for patients with early stage (I-II) endometrial cancer. After a median follow-up time of 6.8 years, univariate analysis of patients with stage I-II disease (n=188) showed that high u-PA and high PAI-1 content was associated with a shorter progression-free survival (PFS), but at different cut-off levels, uPA at the median (P=0.003), and PAI-1 at the 80th percentile (P<0.001). Among the other factors, DNA ploidy status was most strongly correlated to PFS, followed by age (continuous), International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) grade of differentiation, S-phase fraction and progesterone receptor (PgR) status. Bivariate analyses, including ploidy and one of the factors u-PA or PAI-1, showed that both add significant prognostic information. We conclude that u-PA and PAI-1 are promising prognostic factors in early stage endometrial cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fredstorp-Lidebring
authors.forename: P O
authors.initials: PO
authors.lastname: Bendahl
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brünner
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Casslén
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Högberg
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Långström-Einarsson
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Willén
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fernö
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D018450:Disease Progression; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1 / Q000032:analysis*; D011003:Ploidies; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D013997:Time Factors; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D017395:Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator