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Biotech / Medical : Cistron Biotechnology(CIST)$.30 -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Walter Morton who wrote (2580)	2/18/2000 1:10:00 PM
From: Walter Morton	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 2742

An analysis of u-PA and PAI-2 expression in cancer cells and their surrounding fibroblasts may be useful for predicting the prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Am J Pathol 2000 Feb;156(2):567-575 (ISSN: 0002-9440) First Department of Surgery, Intensive Care Unit, and First Department of Pathology, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Japan. To assess the participation of the plasminogen activation system in the invasiveness of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma, we performed immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization to study the distribution of a urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA), u-PA receptor (u-PAR), and plasminogen activator inhibitor-2 (PAI-2). u-PA and PAI-2 were expressed heterogeneously in cancer cells, and restricted expression was found in stromal cells, especially fibroblasts, that were located in the immediate proximity of the cancerous cells. u-PAR was found only in cancer cells located at the periphery of tumors. Compared with patients with u-PA-negative cancer cells, patients with u-PA-positive cancer cells more frequently showed a neoplastic invasion beyond the muscularis propria and lymph node metastases. They also showed a significantly shorter 5-year overall survival. Patients with PAI-2-positive fibroblasts showed significantly lower levels of local invasiveness, represented by a neoplastic invasion beyond the muscularis propria, than those who were PAI-2 negative. Our results suggest that the expression of u-PA in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is predictive of poor survival, whereas the expression of PAI-2 in the fibroblasts surrounding them is protective. An analysis of u-PA and PAI-2 expression in cancer cells and their surrounding fibroblasts may be useful for predicting the prognosis of patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.