High expression of the urokinase plasminogen activator and its cognate receptor associates with advanced stages and reduced disease-free interval in papillary thyroid carcinoma.

Context: The urokinase plasminogen activating system is implicated in neoplastic progression, and high tissue levels of urokinase plasminogen activating system components correlate with poor prognosis in various human cancers.

Objective: The objective of the study was to investigate the prognostic relevance of the urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA), its cognate receptor (uPAR), and the plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) in human papillary thyroid cancer (PTC).

Design: The expression of uPA, uPAR, and PAI-1 genes was analyzed in PTC and normal matched tissues by quantitative RT-PCR.