title: Clinical value of cyclooxygenase-2 expression in human breast carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether COX-2 expression is associated with clinicopathological parameters, including c-erb-B2 overexpression and angiogenesis, and the disease-free survival of patients with operable breast cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Paraffin-embedded tissue samples were selected from 205 patients surgically resected for breast cancer, between 1991 and 1997, and followed-up for at least 4 years. Samples were immunohistochemically stained with antibodies to COX-2, c-erb-B2 and CD34.
  
  
  RESULTS
  COX-2 and c-erb-B2 expressions were detected in 118/205 (57.6%) and 58/205 (28.3%) patients, respectively. COX-2 expression was significantly higher in c-erb-B2 positive than c-erb-B2 negative tumors (75.9% vs. 49.7%, p-value 0.001). COX-2 expression was positively correlated with microvessel count (13.3+/-8.0 vs. 6.6+/-7.0, p-value 0.050), but not with other clinicopathological characteristics, including tumor size, involved axillary lymph nodes and estrogen or progesterone receptor status. Although COX-2 expression itself was not a prognostic marker, breast cancer patients with tumors that co-expressed both COX-2 and c-erb-B2 had a poorer 5-year disease-free survival rate than those that did not (60.2% vs. 78.3%, p-value 0.0527).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that COX-2 expression occurs frequently in c-erb-B2 positive breast cancer, and co-expression of COX-2 and c-erb-B2 may be a useful prognostic marker in patients with operable breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. drjiny@amc.seoul.kr
authors.forename: Jin-Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Sung-Bae
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Sei-Hyun
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Gyung-Yub
authors.initials: GY
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Myung-Ju
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.forename: Yoon-Koo
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Jung-Shin
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Woo Kun
authors.initials: WK
authors.lastname: Kim
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