The central role of the serine protease urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and its inhibitor, the plasminogen activator-inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), in tumour invasion and metastasis becomes more and more evident. In several studies, uPA and PAI-1 proved to be of prognostic relevance as shown for different types of cancer (e.g. breast, stomach, lung). Elevated antigen levels of uPA and/or PAI-1 predict poor outcome (relapse-free survival) for patients afflicted with cancer. For oral squamous cell carcinomas, however, the prognostic relevance of the tumour-associated proteolytic factors uPA and PAI-1 has still to be evaluated. In the present study, using tissue extracts of 79 oral cancer cases, 58 specimens of normal oral cavity mucosa and of 16 tumour positive lymph nodes taken from the same patients, uPA and PAI-1 antigen were determined by highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). A correlation was found between uPA and PAI-1 in tumour tissue, when compared with the normal mucosa of the same oral cavity. Median levels showed significant elevations in cancer tissue and in tumour positive lymph nodes versus normal oral mucosa. In patients with high levels of uPA or PAI-1, there were significantly more tumour relapses. There was no significant correlation between pathological TNM categories, grading, residual tumour category, tumour site and patient age. In summary, tumour uPA/PAI-1 content (as determined by ELISA) appears to be a strong independent prognostic factor for relapse-free survival in squamous cell cancer of the oral cavity. These observations might help to select patients with poor prognosis for additional adjuvant therapy in conjunction with complete surgical resection.