Hyaluronidase activity in gynaecological cancer tissues with different metastatic forms.

We investigated hyaluronidase activity in gynaecological normal and malignant tissues. Hyaluronidase activity in culture medium of tissue specimens was detected by hyaluronic acid zymography and quantified by densitometry. Hyaluronidase activity was shown as one dominant band (molecular weight 65 kDa) at pH 3.5. Hyaluronidase activity was significantly higher in normal ovary (P < 0.05) and normal endometrium (P< 0.05) than in normal cervix. One dominant 65-kDa hyaluronidase was expressed in 100% (14 out of 14) of ovarian cancer tissues and in 91% (10 out of 11) of endometrial cancer tissues. However, hyaluronidase activity was not observed in cervical cancer tissues. Hyaluronidase activity was significantly higher in ovarian (P < 0.001) and endometrial (P < 0.01) cancer tissues than in cervical cancer tissue and was significantly higher in ovarian cancer tissue than in endometrial cancer tissue (P < 0.05). These facts suggest that the cancer cells make use of the original characteristic of the organ to invade and metastasize. Moreover, these results reflect the difference in metastatic forms and are suggestive of a strong relationship between hyaluronidase activity and invasion and metastasis of ovarian and endometrial cancers compared with cervical cancer.