title: Expression and significance of cyclooxygenase 2 gene in lung cancer.
abstract: To study the expression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) gene and its relationship with clinicopathological characteristics of lung cancer, expression of the COX-2 mRNA was evaluated by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in cancerous tissues and paired adjacent non-cancerous tissues from 56 patients and benign lesions from 12 patients. Our results showed that expression of COX-2 gene was detected in a significantly greater proportion of cancerous tissues (60.7%) than adjacent noncancerous tissues (10.7%, P<0.01) and benign lesions (3/12, P<0.05). Expression of COX-2 gene was higher in adenocarcinoma than in squamous carcinoma (P<0.01). There was no significant relationship between COX-2 gene expression and patients' age, sex, histological type of tumors, differentiation degree and TNM stages (P>0.05). The up-regulation of COX-2 gene in lung cancer tissues especially in adenocarcinoma suggested that COX-2 may play a role in the lung carcinogenesis and COX-2 gene may serve as a potential therapeutic target in lung cancer.
authors.affiliation: Research Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430030.
authors.forename: Lihua
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xing
authors.forename: Zhenxiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yongjian
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Huilan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jianbo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000201:enzymology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology*; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D008875:Middle Aged; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C496540:PTGS2 protein, human; D011451:Prostaglandin-Endoperoxide Synthases