title: Cyclooxygenase isozymes in oral squamous cell carcinoma:a real-time RT-PCR study with clinic pathological correlations.
abstract: COX-2 expression in tumour cells has been associated with carcinogenesis in many human neoplasms, including head and neck cancer, while the COX-1 isoform of the cyclooxygenase enzyme is constitutively expressed in normal tissues. We measured COX-1 and COX-2 m-RNA expression in samples of both oral cancer and matched oral mucosa from 22 patients by RealTime RT-PCR; clinic pathological data (grading, TNM staging, inflammation, follow-up) of all patients were available for statistical evaluation. Most of the tumor samples in our study expressed at least one cyclooxygenase enzyme (COX-1 or COX-2 mRNA) more than their matched normal oral mucosa (p<0.05), with no correlation with the entity of inflammation, and a significant inverse relationship was found between COX-1 and COX-2 in each sample. Higher levels of COX-2 expression were associated with poor disease-free survival (p<0.05), but not with overall survival and higher tumor stage and grade. Our results suggest that COX-1 may play a role in oral carcinogenesis, and could be regarded as a potential therapeutic target by chemo preventive drugs; moreover, COX-2 expression might be addressed as a new prognostic tool in the clinical management of OSCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgical Sciences, Institute of Pathology and Cytopathology, University of Foggia, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pannone
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sanguedolce
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: De Maria
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Farina
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lo Muzio
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Serpico
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Emanuelli
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rubini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Rosa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Staibano
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Macchia
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bufo
mesh_terms: D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D051545:Cyclooxygenase 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007527:Isoenzymes / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control; D011379:Prognosis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D007527:Isoenzymes; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051545:Cyclooxygenase 1; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C496540:PTGS2 protein, human