[Antiproteases in the pathogenesis of neoplastic diseases]

The imbalance between proteases and their inhibitors has substantial significance for the pathogenesis of the neoplastic disease. Proteases have been shown to play multiple roles in carcinogenesis and tumor promotion, while antiproteases (PI) can be regarded as anticarcinogenic agents. Hypotheses concerning the mechanism of PI anticarcinogenic action were presented in this article. The estimation of the antiprotease level may be clinically and therapeutically useful in some cases of cancer disease.