Clinical relevance of uPA, uPAR, PAI 1 and PAI 2 tissue expression and plasma PAI 1 level in colorectal carcinoma patients.

Background/aims: Urokinase (uPA) is a serine protease, which together with uPAR, tPA, PAI 1 and PAI 2 forms the plasminogen activator system, a component of metastatic cascade contributing to the invasive growth and angiogenesis of malignant tumours.

Methodology: Both preceding therapy and after 6-8 weeks of the treatment, plasma PAI 1 levels (photometric microplate method on the ELISA) and uPA, uPAR, PAI 1 and PAI 2 tissue expression (immunohistochemical reaction) were analysed from 80 colorectal carcinoma patients.

Results: Analysis showed higher pre-treatment plasma levels of PAI 1 in patients with advanced tumours, which decreased after surgery or the start of therapy (p=0.