Antigen levels of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor and its gene polymorphism related to microvessel density in colorectal cancer.

We determined the distribution of genotypes and frequencies of alleles of the (CA)(n) repeat polymorphism in intron 3 of the urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) gene, uPAR antigen levels and microvessel density (MVD) in tumour and distant mucosa samples from 52 patients with colorectal cancer. The uPAR level was higher for patients with high MVD comparing to patients with lower MVD which may suggest that uPAR can be correlated with progression of colorectal cancer. The significant relationship between the high MVD and uPAR antigen level appeared to be independent of the (CA)(n) repeat polymorphism because no differences in the level of uPAR antigen between carriers of alleles were found. The received results, indicate that uPAR might be considered as a target in colorectal cancer patients' therapy.