RESUMO
Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA) is known to be involved in proteolytic degradation of extracellular matrix during carcinoma invasion. Similarly Ets-1, a transcription factor, is also known to be important for carcinoma progression, and has been reported to interact with the u-PA gene enhancer. We used immunohistochemistry to analyze the relationship between Ets-1 and u-PA protein expression in patients with pulmonary adenocarcinoma. A significant association was found between Ets-1 expression and u-PA expression. The Ets-1 expression was correlated with T factor, lymph node metastasis and stage. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that survival times were longer in patients with Ets-1-negative tumors than in patients with Ets-1-positive tumors. Our results suggest an important role for Ets-1 in tumor progression, and the correlation with u-PA protein expression serves as an important prognostic factor in pulmonary adenocarcinomas.
