Cyclooxygenase isozymes in oral squamous cell carcinoma:a real-time RT-PCR study with clinic pathological correlations.
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.
Pannone
G
G
Department of Surgical Sciences, Institute of Pathology and Cytopathology, University of Foggia, Italy.
Sanguedolce
F
F
De Maria
S
S
Farina
E
E
Lo Muzio
L
L
Serpico
R
R
Emanuelli
M
M
Rubini
C
C
De Rosa
G
G
Staibano
S
S
Macchia
L
L
Bufo
P
P
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
D007527:Isoenzymes; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051545:Cyclooxygenase 1; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C496540:PTGS2 protein, human