DIE TUMORASSOZIIERTE PROTEOLYSE BEIM OVARIALKARZINOM - U-PA UND PAI-1, ZWEI NEUE PROGNOSEFAKTOREN

The relevance of tumor-associated proteolysis in advanced ovarian cancer FIGO III was studied in a prospective study. The plasminogen activator of urokinase type (u-PA) and its inhibitor the plasminogen activator inhibitor (PAI-1) were detected in malignant and benign ovarian tumor tissue extracts. Cut-off values could be defined for u-PA and PAI-1, accordingly patients could be subdivided into risk groups: patients with low u-PA (<0.9 ng/mg protein) and PAI-1 (<13.5 ng/mg protein) had a statistically significant better prognosis than patients with high u-PA and/or high PAI-1 (p = 0.01). In multivariate analysis residual tumor was the most powerful prognostic factor for survival (0.013), closely followed by u-PA and PAI-1 (p = 0.047). It can be concluded that the pattern of tumor spread as well as the tumorbiological appearance are reflected by the expression of the tumor-associated proteolytic factors u-PA and PAI-1.