Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Urokinase levels linked to worse outcomes in dog mammary tumors
By Santos, Andreia et al.·Published in Veterinary journal (London, England : 1997)·2011·Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar (ICBAS)·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Immunohistochemical analysis of urokinase plasminogen activator and its prognostic value in canine mammary tumours.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study looked at 119 dogs with mammary tumors, finding that those with malignant tumors had higher levels of a protein called urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) compared to those with benign tumors. The research showed that higher uPA levels in malignant tumors were linked to larger tumor sizes, faster growth, and a lower chance of survival. This suggests that measuring uPA could help veterinarians predict how aggressive a dog's mammary tumor might be and guide treatment decisions.
People also search for: dog mammary tumor prognosis · uPA levels in dog cancer · malignant mammary tumors in dogs
Abstract
Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) has been associated with aggressive behaviour and poor prognosis in human breast cancer, but there is no information on its expression in canine mammary tumours (CMT). uPA immunohistochemical expression was studied in 119 CMT (24 benign, 95 malignant) to investigate its relationship with clinical and histopathological parameters. Dogs with malignant mammary tumours (MMT) underwent a 2-year follow-up evaluation. MMT expressed significantly more uPA than benign tumours. In MMT, high uPA stromal expression was significantly associated with larger tumour size, high Ki-67 expression, invasive growth, high histological grade, regional lymph node metastases, development of distant metastases, and lower overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). On the basis of these results, uPA could be considered a useful prognostic factor in dogs with MMT.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20598596/