Expressions and clinical significance of urokinase-type plasminogen activator(uPA) and its inhibitor(PAI-1) in tongue squamous cell carcinoma

PURPOSE: To study the expressions and clinical significance of urokinase-type plasminogen activator(uPA) and its inhibitor(PAI-1) in tongue squamous cell carcinoma(TSCC).METHODS: The expression of uPA and PAI-1 at protein level was examined in 74 TSCC and 15 normal peripheral tissues around cancer(as control) by strep avidin-biotin complex(SABC) immunohistochemical assay.SPSS10.0 software package was used to analyze the correlation of uPA and PAI-1 expression and related clinicopathological parameters.RESULTS: The rates of the positive expression in TSCC of uPA and PAI-1 were 71.6%(53/74) and 75.7%(56/74),respectively.There was significant correlation between the level of uPA expression and TNM stage or cervical lymph node status,between the level of PAI-1 expression and T stage cervical lymph node status.Pathological grade was not significantly related to the level of uPA or PAI-1 expression.TSCC cases with positive expression of uPA and PAI-1 revealed significantly higher tendency to cervical lymph node metastasis than those with negative expression of uPA and PAI-1(P0.05).CONCLUSIONS: The expression of uPA and PAI-1 are increased in TSCC.uPA and PAI-1 may contribute significantly to TSCC invasion and metastasis.