Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25677449›Full record

ReviewBreast cancer research : BCR2014

uPA and PAI-1 as biomarkers in breast cancer: validated for clinical use in level-of-evidence-1 studies.

Michael J Duffy, Patricia M McGowan, Nadia Harbeck, Christoph Thomssen, Manfred Schmitt

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Breast cancer research : BCR, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 127 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
127citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
20.1field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

127 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 265 citations in OpenAlex.

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  19. Prognostic and predictive impact of NOTCH1 in early breast cancer.Breast cancer research and treatment · 2025
    Article
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67 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Michael J Duffy
Patricia M McGowan
Nadia Harbeck
Christoph Thomssen
Manfred Schmitt
Klinikum rechts der Isar · DELudwig-Maximilians-Universität München · DESt. Vincent's University Hospital · IEUniversity College Dublin · IEUniversity Hospital in Halle · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Urokinase plasminogen activator (uPA) is an extracellular matrix-degrading protease involved in cancer invasion and metastasis, interacting with plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), which was originally identified as a blood-derived endogenous fast-acting inhibitor of uPA. At concentrations found in tumor tissue, however, both PAI-1 and uPA promote tumor progression and metastasis. Consistent with the causative role of uPA and PAI-1 in cancer dissemination, several retrospective and prospective studies have shown that elevated levels of uPA and PAI-1 in breast tumor tissue are statistically independent and potent predictors of poor patient outcome, including adverse outcome in the subset of breast cancer patients with lymph node-negative disease. In addition to being prognostic, high levels of uPA and PAI-1 have been shown to predict benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with early breast cancer. The unique clinical utility of uPA/PAI-1 as prognostic biomarkers in lymph node-negative breast cancer has been confirmed in two independent level-of-evidence-1 studies (that is, in a randomized prospective clinical trial in which the biomarker evaluation was the primary purpose of the trial and in a pooled analysis of individual data from retrospective and prospective studies). Thus, uPA and PAI-1 are among the best validated prognostic biomarkers currently available for lymph node-negative breast cancer, their main utility being the identification of lymph node-negative patients who have HER-2-negative tumors and who can be safely spared the toxicity and costs of adjuvant chemotherapy. Recently, a phase II clinical trial using the low-molecular-weight uPA inhibitor WX-671 reported activity in metastatic breast cancer.

Indexed as

Biomarkers, TumorAnimalsAntineoplastic AgentsBreast NeoplasmsClinical Trials as TopicFemaleHumansMolecular Targeted TherapyPlasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1PrognosisReproducibility of ResultsUrokinase-Type Plasminogen ActivatorAntineoplastic AgentsBiomarkers, TumorPlasminogen Activator Inhibitor 1Urokinase-Type Plasminogen Activator

Identifiers

PMID25677449
PMCPMC4423643
OpenAlexW2164745800

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.