title: Overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 is associated with breast carcinoma and its poor prognostic factors.
abstract: Cyclooxygenase is the rate-limiting enzyme that catalyzes the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins. The inducible form, cyclooxygenase-2, is known to be overexpressed in various human cancers including the colon, stomach, and urinary bladder. In this study, we evaluated the overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 in 64 cases of breast cancer and correlated the results with clinicopathologic parameters. Immunohistochemical staining for cyclooxygenase-2 demonstrated positivity of the tumor cells in 46 of 64 cases (72%). Cyclooxygenase-2 overexpression was significantly correlated with larger tumor size and advanced clinical stage. Cyclooxygenase-2 overexpression tended to be more frequently observed in cases with presence of lymph node metastasis and in cases without expression of estrogen and progesterone; however, there was no significant correlation statistically. Nuclear and histologic grade were not well correlated with cyclooxygenase-2 overexpression. When ductal carcinoma in situ was considered separately, 32 of 42 cases (76%) were positive for cyclooxygenase-2. We conclude that cyclooxygenase-2 is up-regulated in a high proportion of breast cancers. The overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 was associated with larger tumor size and advanced clinical stage, although lymph node status, estrogen and progesterone expression, and nuclear and histologic grade were not significantly correlated. Therefore, cyclooxygenase-2 overexpression may be a feature of the aggressive phenotype and may be useful as a prognostic indicator in breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Bundang CHA Hospital, Pochon CHA University, Sungnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong Yun
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: Hee Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Yong Hee
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Seung Ki
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Kyong Po
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kyong Sik
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology*; D002278:Carcinoma in Situ / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000378:metabolism*; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C496540:PTGS2 protein, human; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases