High cyclooxygenase-2 expression in cervical adenocarcinomas

Yi Jen Chen, Liang Shun Wang, Peng Hui Wang, Chiung Ru Lai, Ming Shyen Yen, Heung Tat Ng, Chiou Chung Yuan*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

47 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objective. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression and prognostic factors in cervical carcinomas. Methods. We studied COX-2 expression in 53 women with cervical cancers, including 35 squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), 1 adenosquamous cell carcinoma (ASCC), and 17 adenocarcinomas (ACs), using commercially available polyclonal antibodies on Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. Normal cervical tissues were obtained as from other patients with uterine myomas treated with a total hysterectomy (n = 16). The immunoreactivity was quantified using an immunohistochemical scoring system that approximates the use of an image analysis-based system. Results. Twenty-two cervical cancer tissues (41.5%), including 10 SCCs and 12 ACs, expressed COX-2 at a moderate to strong level, which significantly, differed from the negligible expression found in the control group of 16 normal cervical tissues (P = 0.001). Different cell types showed significantly different expression levels of COX-2 (SCC at 28.6% vs AC at 70.6%, P = 0.004). The presence of deep stromal invasion (n = 40) showed a significant inverse relationship to COX-2 expression (32.5% vs 69.2%, P = 0.02). The expression of COX-2 in well-differentiated carcinomas was significantly increased compared to that in moderately and poorly differentiated carcinomas (72.7% vs 33.3%, respectively, P = 0.018). Conclusions. Overexpression of COX-2 was found in both SCC and AC, but SCCs showed infrequent and low expression. These findings suggest that increased COX-2 expression may play an important role in cervical adenocarcinomas.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)379-385
Number of pages7
JournalGynecologic Oncology
Volume88
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Mar 2003

Keywords

  • Adenocarcinoma
  • Cervical cancer
  • Cyclooxygenase (COX-2)
  • Squamous cell carcinoma

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