title: Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in the subserosal layer correlates with postsurgical prognosis of pathological tumor stage 2 carcinoma of the gallbladder.
abstract: Postsurgical recurrence at distant sites frequently occurs in pathological tumor stage 2 (pT(2)) carcinoma of the gallbladder even though the carcinoma is limited to the gallbladder wall. Little is known, however, about the molecular events leading to its development and progression. A large body of evidence suggests that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is up-regulated in carcinoma tissues and plays roles in promoting cell-proliferation, growth and metastasis of carcinoma cells. In the present study, immunohistochemistry was performed to determine the expression levels of COX-2 in the subserosal layer of 33 cases of pT(2) gallbladder carcinoma in which curative resections had been performed and to determine the correlations of the expression levels of COX-2 with mode of recurrence and postsurgical survival. Immunostaining of COX-2 in the epithelia was recognized in more than 80% of normal epithelia, noncancerous pathological lesions of the gallbladder except for intestinal metaplasia and pT(1-4) carcinoma specimens. Intense staining was observed in large percentages of hyperplastic lesions (65%), pT(2) carcinoma specimens (76%) and pT(3) and pT(4) carcinoma specimens (64%) compared to the percentages of normal epithelia and other pathological lesions (0-25%). Intense staining was also observed in the adjacent stroma in pT(2) carcinoma specimens (33%) and in those in pT(3) and pT(4) carcinoma specimens (43%) but only in small percentages of the stroma adjacent to normal epithelia and pathological lesions (0-8%). In situ hybridization confirmed the existence of COX-2 mRNA in both the cancerous epithelia and adjacent stroma of pT(2)-pT(4) carcinomas. In 33 cases of pT(2) carcinoma, distant recurrence, i.e., liver metastasis, was seen in 3 of 9 cases of pT(2) carcinoma (33%, P<0.05) with intense stromal staining in the subserosal layer and in 1 of 24 cases (4%) without intense staining, whereas no significant correlation was found between parameters of pathological malignancies (histological grade, lymphatic permeation, venous permeation and lymph node metastasis) and the intensity of stromal staining in the subserosal layer. The postsurgical survival outcome was significantly poorer in the former than in the latter (p = 0.010). In pT(2) gallbladder carcinoma, upregulation of COX-2 in the stroma adjacent to the cancerous epithelia in the subserosal layer correlates with the aggressiveness of the disease, such as the tendency to form distant recurrences. This phenotype may serve as a unique biological feature associated with the malignant behavior of pT(2) gallbladder carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kawamoto
authors.forename: Junichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Shoda
authors.forename: Toru
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Asano
authors.forename: Tetsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: Naoto
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Koike
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Todoroki
authors.forename: Masanao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Miwa
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D005706:Gallbladder Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015347:RNA Probes; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017154:Stromal Cells / Q000201:enzymology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D017931:DNA Primers; D007527:Isoenzymes; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D015347:RNA Probes; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C496540:PTGS2 protein, human; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases