title: Role of Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) in Prognosis of Breast Cancer.
abstract: COX-2 regulates tumour growth, invasion and metastasis in breast cancer. This study investigated the association between COX-2 expression in human breast cancer versus the expression of ER, PR, HER-2/neu, as well as its association with other established prognostic indicators like age, menopausal status, tumour size, lymph nodal status, stage, grade, NPI and histological subtype, and aims to validate the role of overexpression of COX-2 as a prognostic marker in patients with breast cancer in Indian subcontinent. In this hospital based study of 123 breast cancer patients (Group-A) and 76 female patients with benign breast disease (Group-B) attending a Comprehensive Breast Clinic at a reputed institute in Eastern India, COX-2 protein expression was measured from breast tissue using the Western Blot Technique. COX-2 mRNA expression was measured by RT-PCR Technique. ER, PR and HER-2/neu status was measured by immunohistochemistry methods. COX-2 was not expressed in the control group. The proportion of COX-2 positive tumours was significantly higher in patients of age >50 years [52(91.2 %), p < 0.01], postmenopausal status [64(90.1 %), p < 0.01], advanced stage of disease (p < 0.01), higher grade (p < 0.01), larger tumors (p < 0.01), metastatic lymph nodes (p < 0.01) and NPI ≥ 5.4 (p < 0.01). COX-2 expression was seen in ER-negative [66(95.7 %), p < 0.01], PR-negative [76(92.7 %), p < 0.01], and HER-2/neu positive tumours [29(100.0 %), p < 0.01]. Risk of COX-2 positivity was found to be 2.74 times more for postmenopausal status, 6.90 times more for large size tumours (≥ 2.5), 34.37 times more for node positive tumours, 9.26 times more with ER negative patients and 5.88 times more for PR negative patients. COX-2 expression is associated with established indicators of poor prognosis such as postmenopausal status, age >50 year, advanced stage of disease, large tumour size, higher grade, lymph node metastasis, NPI ≥ 5.4, ER negativity, PR negativity and HER-2/neu positivity. Thus, COX-2 expression implies aggressive tumour biology, and may play an important role as a prognostic marker.
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Breast Service and Breast Cancer Research Unit, Department of Surgery, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGME&R) and Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (SSKM), Kolkata, 700020 India.
authors.forename: Debarshi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jana
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Breast Service and Breast Cancer Research Unit, Department of Surgery, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGME&R) and Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (SSKM), Kolkata, 700020 India.
authors.forename: Diptendra Kumar
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Sarkar
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Breast Service and Breast Cancer Research Unit, Department of Surgery, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGME&R) and Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (SSKM), Kolkata, 700020 India.
authors.forename: Suvro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ganguly
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, P-1/12 CIT Scheme VII M, Kolkata, 700 054 India.
authors.forename: Shilpi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Saha
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, P-1/12 CIT Scheme VII M, Kolkata, 700 054 India.
authors.forename: Gaurisankar
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sa
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Breast Service and Breast Cancer Research Unit, Department of Surgery, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGME&R) and Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (SSKM), Kolkata, 700020 India.
authors.forename: Asim Kumar
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Manna
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Breast Service and Breast Cancer Research Unit, Department of Surgery, Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGME&R) and Seth Sukhlal Karnani Memorial Hospital (SSKM), Kolkata, 700020 India.
authors.forename: Abhirup
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Banerjee
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Chittaranjan National Cancer Institute, 37, S.P. Mukherjee Road, Kolkata, 700026 India.
authors.forename: Syamsundar
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mandal
keywords: Breast cancer; COX-2; Immunohistochemistry (IHC); Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI); Prognostic marker