title: Immunohistochemical analysis of urokinase plasminogen activator and its prognostic value in canine mammary tumours.
abstract: Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) has been associated with aggressive behaviour and poor prognosis in human breast cancer, but there is no information on its expression in canine mammary tumours (CMT). uPA immunohistochemical expression was studied in 119 CMT (24 benign, 95 malignant) to investigate its relationship with clinical and histopathological parameters. Dogs with malignant mammary tumours (MMT) underwent a 2-year follow-up evaluation. MMT expressed significantly more uPA than benign tumours. In MMT, high uPA stromal expression was significantly associated with larger tumour size, high Ki-67 expression, invasive growth, high histological grade, regional lymph node metastases, development of distant metastases, and lower overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). On the basis of these results, uPA could be considered a useful prognostic factor in dogs with MMT.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS), University of Porto, Largo Professor Abel Salazar, 2, 4099-003 Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Andreia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Célia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lopes
authors.forename: Raquel M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: Irina
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Amorim
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Frias
authors.forename: Corália
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vicente
authors.forename: Fátima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gärtner
authors.forename: Augusto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: de Matos
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D015674:Mammary Neoplasms, Animal / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D014568:Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator