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. 2000 Feb;82(4):782–788. doi: 10.1054/bjoc.1999.0999

Cysteine proteinase cathepsin H in tumours and sera of lung cancer patients: relation to prognosis and cigarette smoking

A Schweiger 1, A Staib 2, B Werle 2, M Kras̆ovec 3, T T Lah 4, W Ebert 2, V Turk 1, J Kos 1,3
PMCID: PMC2374398  PMID: 10732746

Abstract

In order to evaluate the role of cysteine peptidase cathepsin H (Cath H) in human lung cancer its protein levels were determined in 148 pairs of lung tumour tissue and adjacent non-tumourous lung parenchyma using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay technique. Additionally, Cath H levels were determined in sera of 171 patients with malignant tumours, 34 patients with benign lung diseases and 47 healthy controls. The median level of Cath H in tumour tissue was 0.64 times that in the corresponding lung parenchyma. Relating tumour levels with histological type we found higher Cath H levels in small-cell and adenocarcinomas and lower levels in squamous cell carcinoma, large-cell carcinoma and secondary tumours. A significant difference in Cath H level between lung tumour tissue and non-tumourous lung parenchyma was associated with the group of cigarette smokers (156 vs 263 ng mg−1protein, P< 0.001). For this group of patients Cath H tumour levels correlated with the survival rate, while for the entire patient population this was not the case. Smokers with high tumour levels of Cath H experienced poor survival. Cath H was significantly higher in sera of patients with malignant and benign lung diseases than in control sera (P< 0.001). The increase was significant for all histological types, being the highest in small-cell and squamous cell carcinomas. Our study reveals that in lung tumours there is different behaviour of Cath H compared with other cysteine peptidases, e.g. cathepsin B and cathepsin L. Variations between tissue and serum levels of Cath H indicate either reduced expression or enhanced secretion of this enzyme in lung tumours. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign

Keywords: cathepsin H, tumour markers, survival, ELISA, cigarette smoke

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Selected References

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