胃癌组织中uPA系统及VEGF表达与侵袭转移的关系

Expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator system and vascular endothelial growth factor in human gastric cancer and the relationship with tumor invasion and metastasis

AIM: To detect the expression of urokinase-type plasmi-nogen activator (uPA), uPA receptor (uPAR), plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in human gastric cancer (GC) and to reveal their correlation to the major clinicopathological characteristics including tumor invasion and metastasis. METHODS: Expression of uPA, uPAR, PAI-1 and VEGF was examined in the tissue sections from 67 cases of human GC using streptoavidin-biotin-peroxidase immuno-histochemistry method. RESULTS: The expression of uPA, uPAR, PAI-1 and VEGF was mainly located in the cytoplasm of GC cells. The expression of uPA, uPAR, PAI-1 and VEGF in GC was significantly higher than in the cancer-adjacent tissue (P<0.01). The expression of uPA, uPAR, PAI-1 and VEGF in GC with serosa invasion was significantly higher than that in cancer without serosa invasion (P<0.05). Positive rates of staining for uPA and uPAR in GC with lymph node me- tastasis were significantly higher compared to cancer without lymph node metastasis (P = 0.002 and 0.008 respectively). The expression of RAM was significantly associated with the differentiation degree of cancer (P<0.01), while no relationship was found between the expression of uPA, uPAR, VEGF and the differentiation degree of cancer. The expression of uPA was correlated with uPAR in cancer tissue(r= 0.653, P<0.001). In 41 cases positive for uPA and uPAR, 28 were with lymph node metastasis (P<0.01, compared with 4/15). Positive correlation was observed between the expression of uPA and VEGF protein (r= 0.300, P<0.05), and between PAI-1 and VEGF (r= 0.413, P< 0.01). Multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that only the depth of invasion, the expression of uPA and the differentiation affected lymph node metastasis in GC. CONCLUSION: Expression of uPA, uPAR, PAI-1 and VEGF protein is increased in gastric cancer. uPA and uPAR may play an important role in the invasion and metastasis through VEGF which promotes angiogenesis.