THE PROGNOSTIC VALUE OF TETRANECTIN IMMUNOREACTIVITY AND PLASMA TETRANECTIN IN PATIENTS WITH OVARIAN-CANCER

Background. Tetranectin (TN), a tetrameric, plasminogen-binding protei n, was reduced in the plasma of patients with cancer and appears extra cellularly in ''stimulated'' connective tissues, such as the prolifera tive, connective tissue response to carcinomas known as desmoplasia. M ethods. Tissue samples from 37 patients with ovarian cancer were exami ned immunohistochemically for stromal and cellular TN. Plasma samples obtained before the primary surgery were quantitated for TN. The univa riate log-rank test and the multivariate Cox proportional hazards regr ession model were used to analyze the prognostic function of the varia bles. Results. A significantly higher survival rate was found for pati ents with a low-stromal TN score and a high-plasma TN concentration, w hereas the cellular TN score did not have any significance. A signific ant negative correlation was found between plasma TN and stromal TN (R (s) = -0.36; P = 0.03). Independent significant correlations were foun d between stromal immunoreactivity for TN and tumor grade (R = 0.67; P = 0.03) and between plasma TN and tumor stage (R = -0.29; P = 0.01). Conclusions. This study gives great expectations to TN as a useful par ameter for prognostic evaluation of patients with ovarian cancer. Acco rding to the correlations, stromal TN may partly originate from plasma and enhance proteolytic degradation in the interstitial tissue, a pro cess necessary for the spread and growth of cancer. Because plasma TN measurements are only valid when taken preoperatively, it is of great value that stromal TN immunoreactivity of stored tumor tissue can be u sed as a prognostic factor for ovarian cancer.