99 High preoperative blood levels of urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (UPAR) and carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) defines a group of colorectal cancer patients with poor prognosis

We determined the distribution of genotypes and frequencies of alleles of the (CA)(n) repeat polymorphism in intron 3 of the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) gene, uPAR antigen levels and microvessel density (MVD) in tumour and distant mucosa samples from 52 patients with colorectal cancer. The uPAR level was higher for patients with high MVD comparing to patients with lower MVD which may suggest that uPAR can be correlated with progression of colorectal cancer. The significant relationship between the high MVD and uPAR antigen level appeared to be independent of the (CA)(n) repeat polymorphism because no differences in the level of uPAR antigen between carriers of alleles were found. The received results, indicate that uPAR might be considered as a target in colorectal cancer patients' therapy.

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Preoperative Plasma Soluble Urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor as a Prognostic Marker in Rectal Cancer Patients. An Eortc-Receptor and Biomarker Group Collaboration

The International Journal of Biological Markers ◽

10.1177/172460080502000203 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 93-102 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

R. Riisbro ◽

I.J. Christensen ◽

H.J. Nielsen ◽

N. Brünner ◽

M. Nilbert ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Rectal Cancer ◽

Cancer Patients ◽

Plasminogen Activator ◽

Clinical Decision Making ◽

Univariate Analysis ◽

Urokinase Plasminogen Activator ◽

Early Colorectal Cancer ◽

Urokinase Plasminogen Activator Receptor ◽

Plasminogen Activator Receptor

Background and aims Since approximately 30% of patients with Dukes’ stage B colorectal cancer will experience disease recurrence within five years of primary treatment, current staging of patients with early colorectal cancer apparently fails to adequately predict patient outcome. It has previously been shown that the preoperative plasma concentration of soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (suPAR) is associated with the survival of patients with early colorectal cancer. In this study we sought to confirm the independent prognostic value of suPAR in rectal cancer. Methods suPAR was retrospectively determined by two different versions of a suPAR ELISA in preoperatively collected plasma samples from a Swedish (n=354) and a Danish (n=255) cohort of rectal cancer patients. Results In both cohorts the suPAR concentration was significantly higher in Dukes’ stage D patients than in Dukes’ stage A-C patients (p<0.0001). Among Dukes’ stage A-C patients, no differences in median suPAR values were seen. In univariate analysis, continuous suPAR was found to be associated with survival (p<0.0001 in both cohorts). Of particular interest was that similar results were obtained for Dukes’ stage A and B patients when analyzed separately. In multivariate analysis, continuous suPAR was found in both cohorts to be independent of Dukes’ stage. Conclusions This study confirms that the preoperative concentration of plasma suPAR contains independent prognostic information on patients with rectal cancer. This result was independent of the two different versions of an in-house suPAR ELISA used to perform the analyses. The next step in the evaluation of suPAR as a prognostic parameter in rectal cancer will be to launch an appropriately dimensioned prospective study where the benefit of applying preoperative plasma suPAR measurement to clinical decision-making regarding adjuvant therapy is assessed.

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