[The prognostic value of cathepsin D in endometrial carcinoma]

The concentration of the lysosomal protease Cathepsin D was tested by means of RIA. We used the cytosols of 44 endometrial carcinoma tissue specimens and of the corresponding normal endometrial tissues (n = 42) obtained from the respective uteri after hysterectomy. All patients were in postmenopausal stage. A significant higher level of Cathepsin D expression was found in endometrial carcinoma (median value = 24.2 pmol/mg) compared to normal endometrium (median value = 11.4 pmol/mg). No difference in Cathepsin D concentration was found in relation to grade of histological differentiation (G1 vs. G2/G3), depth of myometrial invasion and tumor stage (stage IA vs. IB/IC vs. > I) as well as state of estrogen receptor (ER) and progesterone receptor (PR). After an average follow-up period of 18 months there was no significant difference in survival rate of operated patients depending on Cathepsin D concentration. However, the prognostic significance of this parameter need to be evaluated after a long-term follow-up. The overexpression of Cathepsin D seems to be important for exact biologic characterization of each endometrial carcinoma with respect to local proteolytic activity. The enhanced activity of cathepsin D may therefore serve as an additional objective malignancy criterion independent of the well-known prognostic factors.