Evaluation of serum cathepsin B and D in relation to clinicopathological staging of colorectal cancer.
OBJECTIVE
Proteolytic degradation of the extracellular matrix facilitates cancer invasion and promotes metastasis. The study aims at evaluation of preoperative and postoperative serum cathepsins B and D levels in correlation with selected anatomoclinical features of colorectal cancer.


METHODS
Blood samples were collected from 63 colorectal cancer patients before curative operation of the tumor 10 d later. Blood that was obtained from 20 healthy volunteers, served as a control. The activity of cathepsin B was measured with Bz-DL-arginine-pNA as a substrate at pH 6.0, while cathepsin D activity was determined with urea-denatured hemoglobin (pH 4.0).


RESULTS
The preoperative and postoperative activities of cathepsin B were significantly (P<0.00001) lower in serum of colorectal cancer patients than in control group. However, postoperative values of this protease were significantly increased in comparison with preoperative ones (P = 0.031). Activity of cathepsin D appeared to be significantly higher in colorectal cancer sera (P<0.00001) compared with controls. No statistically significant differences between preoperative and postoperative activity of cathepsin D were noted (P = 0.09). We revealed a strong linkage of cathepsins' levels with lymph node status and pT stage of colorectal cancer.


CONCLUSIONS
Blood serum activities of cathepsin B and D depend on the time of sampling, tumor size and lymph node involvement. Significantly, increased activity of cathepsin D could indicate a malignant condition of the large intestine. In our work, the serum postoperative decrease of cathepsin B activity appears as an obvious concomitant of local lymph node metastasis-the well-known clinicopathological feature of poor prognosis.
Skrzydlewska
Elzbieta
E
Department of Analytical Chemistry, Medical University of Bialystok, Mickiewicza 2, 15-230 Bialystok, Poland. skrzydle@amb.edu.pl
Sulkowska
Mariola
M
Wincewicz
Andrzej
A
Koda
Mariusz
M
Sulkowski
Stanislaw
S
D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood; D002401:Cathepsin B / Q000097:blood*; D002402:Cathepsin D / Q000097:blood*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging / Q000379:methods*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D002401:Cathepsin B; D002402:Cathepsin D