The Expression Of Heparanase, CathepinD And BFGF In Endometrial Carcinoma

Background and ObjectiveEndometrial carcinoma is one of malignant tumors in female reproductive duct. Endometrial carcinoma usually occurs in the menopausal periods and seriously threatens the health of senior women. The incidence of endometrial carcinoma is highly increasing in the young women in recent years.Heparanase is an endo-B-D-glucuronidase that degrades heapran sulfate. Hepranase activity has been detected in various tumors and was found to correlate with their metastasis potentials. Meanwhile, heparanase may also contribute to angiogenesis to nourish the tumor by releasing the basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF).bFGF is a potent antigenic growth factor that requires heparin. The activity of bFGF is stringently controlled because it can be inactive in normal tissues and becomes activeated upon tissue injury, inflamemation, and tumor invasion. Heparanase possesses the ability to cell surface HPSG. Accordingly, heparanase and bFGF could play complementary biological roles in tumor angiogenesis and invasion.Cathepsin D is another enzyme that degrades the extracellular matrix and the basement membrane. It plays a kay role in tumor invasion and metastasis.To our knowledge, expression of heapranase and its biological role in connection with bFGF and cathesin D expression in human endometrial carcinoma have not been evaluated so far. In the present study, we try to find out whether heparanase, bFGF and cathepsin D are all correlated to the genesis, progression and prognosis of endometrial carcinoma.