title: Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in invasive breast carcinomas and its prognostic impact.
abstract: Representative tumour sections from 468 patients with invasive breast cancer were immunostained for cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and evaluated. The relationships between COX-2 expression, clinical outcome and various clinicopathological variables, including tumour vascularity and disseminated tumour cells (DTC) in the bone marrow were examined. COX-2 expression in invasive breast carcinoma cells was positively associated with oestrogen receptor and/or progesterone receptor positivity (p<0.001). Triple-negative tumours showed no/low COX-2 expression more frequently than other tumour types (p<0.001). Expression of COX-2 was not associated with breast cancer-specific survival (p=0.49, log-rank) or distant disease-free survival (p=0.67, log-rank) for all patients, including lymph node-negative, untreated patients (p>0.14, log-rank). There was also no significant association between COX-2 expression and histological grade, tumour size, nodal status, DTC in bone marrow, p53, HER2, or tumour vascularity. In conclusion, COX-2 expression in this series was associated with the presence of hormone receptors. Low COX-2 expression was observed in triple-negative breast carcinomas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Oslo University Hospital, The Norwegian Radium Hospital, Oslo, Norway. aastha2@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Hari Prasad
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Dhakal
authors.forename: Bjørn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Naume
authors.forename: Marit
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Synnestvedt
authors.forename: Elin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Borgen
authors.forename: Rolf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaaresen
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schlichting
authors.forename: Gro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wiedswang
authors.forename: Assia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bassarova
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Holm
authors.forename: Karl-Erik
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Giercksky
authors.forename: Jahn M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Nesland
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen; D011980:Receptors, Progesterone; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C496540:PTGS2 protein, human