Effect of medroxyprogesterone acetate on secondary spreading of endometrial cancer.

We examined the effect of medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) on secondary spreading of endometrial cancer. There was no significant difference in the adhering capacity of dispersed Ishikawa cells (derived from well-differentiated endometrial cancer) to a cell basement membrane matrix, fibronectin or laminin between cells treated with MPA, with cortisol, and without treatment. The adhering capacity of cells treated with cortisol to collagen type IV was higher than that without treatment. However, the adhering capacity was little affected by treatment with MPA. These results indicate that although cortisol may induce the initial process of metastasis by inducing the attachment of tumor cells to the basement membrane of vascular endothelium, MPA has no influence on the attachment, although it has a glucocorticoid action similar to that of cortisol. There was no significant difference in tumor angiogenesis factor (TAF) or fibroblast growth factor (FGF) activity of the tumor extract from Ishikawa cell colonies between cortisol-treated and control group. TAF or FGF activity of the MPA-treated group was lower than that of the control group. MPA may reduce the neovascularization in the terminal process of metastasis via the reduction of TAF and FGF produced by tumor cells, in spite of its glucocorticoid action.