Abstract

There are two disinct types of plasminogen activator, tissue type (t-PA) and urokinase (u-PA). We measured t-PA and u-PA antigen levels in extracts of 14 endometrial adenocarcinoma and of seven normal postmenopausal endometria. The concentration of endometrial t-PA was higher in normal than in malignant uteri (p <0.05). In endometrial carcinoma t-PA levels were higher in less invasive disease. Endometrial u-PA levels were very low or absent in normal postmenopausal uteri and significantly higher (p < 0.001) in malignant cases. An increase in u-PA and a decrease in t-PA are features of malignant transformation of the endometrium.