title: [Relationship between cyclooxygenase-2 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma and cervical lymph node metastasis].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in lowly differentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma and examine its relationship with cervical lymph node metastasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  On the basis of COX expression, a total of 104 patients with lowly differentiated squamous cell carcinoma NPC were divided into 2 groups of COX-2 high-expression and COX-2 low-expression. The influence on prognosis was assessed by retrospective analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The overall positive rate for COX-2 staining was 78.8% (82/104) . The rate of patients with lymph node metastasis was significantly higher than that in those without (84.5% vs 55.0%, χ(2) = 6.765, P = 0.009). Further comparison showed that patients with age <45 years and neck lymph node metastasis had higher rate of COX-2 high expression than those with age >45 years and no cervical lymph node metastasis (58.7% vs 37.7%, χ(2) = 4.439, P = 0.035; 52.4% vs 25.0%, χ(2) = 4.861, P = 0.027). At the end of follow-up, the recurrence rate with inter-group statistical differences (χ(2) = 4.786, P = 0.029) was 32.7% (16/49) and 14.6% (8/55) respectively. Meanwhile, as compared with COX-2 high-expression group, the transferring rate in COX-2 low-expression group significantly decreased (17.7% vs 28.6%, χ(2) = 4.037, P = 0.045). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that COX-2 high expression was a risk factor of nasopharyngeal carcinoma recurrence [OR = 2.039, 95%CI (1.042-5.875)].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  COX-2 expression is up-regulated in lowly differentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma tissues. And it may be risk factor influencing the prognosis of NPC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngolog, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China.
authors.forename: Honghai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngolog, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China. Email: zhuyun591110@sina.com.
authors.forename: Xiaoyuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002277:Carcinoma; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C496540:PTGS2 protein, human