title: Cyclooxygenase-2 and inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in thyroid neoplasms and their clinicopathological correlation.
abstract: To evaluate the expressions of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in thyroid neoplasms in a Korean population, we studied a total of 154 cases: papillary carcinoma of classical type (PTC), 86; follicular adenoma (FA), 21; follicular carcinoma (FC), 35; medullary carcinoma (MC), 3; undifferentiated carcinoma (UC), 5; and Hurthle cell neoplasm (HN), 4. Using immunohistochemical staining, COX-2 expression was detected in 62 (72.1%) PTC specimens, 5 (23.8%) FA specimens, 10 (28.6%) FC specimens, 0 (0.0%) MC specimens, 1 (20.0%) UC specimen, and 3 (75%) HN specimens. iNOS expression was detected in 66 (76.7%) PTC specimens, 4 (19.0%) FA specimens, 13 (37.1%) FC specimens, 0 (0.0%) MC specimens, 3 (60.0%) UC specimens, and 4 (100%) HN specimens. The results showed that COX-2 and iNOS were frequently expressed in the PTC and HN specimens, and iNOS was more frequently overexpressed in the FC specimens than in the FA specimens. In PTC, COX-2 and iNOS were significantly overexpressed in patients over 45 yr of age (p=0.029, p=0.041), and iNOS expression was increased in patients with a large primary tumor (p=0.028). These results suggest that the upregulation of COX-2 and iNOS may contribute to the tumor progression of thyroid gland, particularly in PTC and HN, and iNOS may play an adjuvant role during the tumor progression of FC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine, Eulji University School of Medicine, Daejeon, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung-Hee
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seong-Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seok Hyung
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jong-Ho
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Back
authors.forename: Mee-Ja
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jin-Man
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000032:analysis*; D005260:Female; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis*; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II / Q000032:analysis*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000201:enzymology*; D014018:Tissue Distribution
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D052247:Nitric Oxide Synthase Type II; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2