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No. 1’5. pp. SZb832.1992. 0964-1947192$S.W i 0.W Pnnted m Great Bnrm, 0 1992 Pergamon Press Lid zyxwvutsrqp Quantification and Molecular Analysis of Cathepsin D in Breast Cyst Fluids Luis M. Shnchez, Francisco Vizoso, M. Teresa Allende, Alvaro Ruibal and Carlos L6pez-Otin zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONM Cyst fluids from 55 premenopausal women with gross cystic breast disease were classified by K+/Na+ ratio: 19 with ratio over 1 (type I) and 36 with ratio less than 1 (type 11). Immunoradiometric assay of cathepsin D in both types of cyst fluids revealed the presence of large amounts of this proteinase. The average concentration of cathepsin D in type I cyst fluids was 63.3 nmol/l, which was significantly higher than that corresponding to type II cyst fluids (35.1 nmol/l). Immunoprecipitation analysis of intracystic cathepsin D demonstrated that this protein was present as the 52 kD non-processed precursor form of the molecule. Since procathepsin D is a useful prognostic marker in breast carcinoma, we suggest that cyst fluid quantification of cathepsin D could aid to detect patients affecting of gross cystic disease with higher risk for developing breast cancer. zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZY EurJ Cancer, Vol. 28A, No. 415, pp. 828-832,1992. INTRODUCTION GROSS CYSTIC breast disease is the most common mammary pathology in premenopausal women, affecting about 7% of women in Western populations [l]. Although the relationship of gross cystic disease to breast carcinoma is controversial [2], there is statistical evidence indicating that patients with gross cystic lesions are at a 2-4-fold greater risk of developing breast cancer than the normal female population [3,4]. formation and to define their possible role in carcinogenesis. These analyses have demonstrated that cyst fluids contain a wide variety of substances at concentrations more than 100 times higher than the levels found in plasma. These substances include conjugated steroids [5, 61, tumour markers [7, 81, epidermal growth factor [9, lo] and several unusual proteins that seem to be specific secretory products of epithelial cells surrounding the cysts [ll-131. The biochemical composition of cyst fluid aspirated from In addition, analyses of the composition of fluid filling the patients with gross cystic breast disease has been studied in cysts have allowed cysts to be typed into two principal categories an attempt to understand the mechanisms involved in cyst according to the concentrations of different intracystic sub-