ELISA DETERMINATION OF SOLUBLE UROKINASE RECEPTOR IN BLOOD FROM HEALTHY DONORS AND CANCER-PATIENTS

Measurement of urokinase receptor (uPAR) in tumor extracts has prognos tic value, but assay of the soluble uPAR (suPAR) in peripheral blood m ay offer wider applications in cancer patient management, A tumor extr act uPAR ELISA was modified to eliminate nonspecific plasma protein in terference, enabling specific detection of suPAR in plasma and sera wi th >90% recovery of added calibrator, suPAR concentrations in citrate plasma correlated with sera in 93 healthy blood donors (r = 0.84, P < 0.0001), with a median value for both of 1.2 mu g/L. The plasma median for 19 advanced breast cancer patients was 2.9 mu g/L, suPAR, and a s imilar increase was found for 10 advanced colon cancer patients, consi stent with, release of suPAR from tumors into blood. Repetitive monito ring of suPAR in cancer patients' blood map have value in assessment o f prognosis and tumor recurrence.