[Significance of cathepsin B and D in physiologic and pathologic processes]

The lysosomal proteases play an important role in the cells nourishment, immunogenesis, development of the arteriosclerosis perturbations in blood vessel cells and in the pathogenesis of degeneration diseases, cancer diseases and in the great number of others. For the many cancer disease durations, an increased activity of the lysosomal enzymes both in blood serum and in tumor tissues was revealed. Over the past few years a particular attention have been paid to the fact that the high activity of some lysosomal enzymes i.e. cathepsin B and D is connected with the increased cancer invasiveness. The results of preliminary clinical research point to great diagnostic value of cathepsin B and D in breast cancer detection.