Increased level of serum prostaglandin-2 in early stage of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
BACKGROUND
Prostaglandin-2 (PGE-2), one of the products of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) induced catalysis, may play a critical role in the carcinogenesis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We investigated the efficacy of using serum PGE-2 concentration as a biomarker for this cancer type.


METHODS
Prostaglandin-2 levels were analyzed in the serum of 65 ESCC patients and in 47 healthy individuals. The concentrations of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) were measured in tumor tissues and normal tissues obtained from 31 surgically treated ESCC patients.


RESULTS
Serum PGE-2 concentration was significantly higher in ESCC patients than in control patients (p = 0.004), especially in the early stages (I + II) of cancer (p < 0.0001). We observed significant inverse relationships between serum PGE-2 levels and: tumor stage, primary tumor progression, lymph and distant metastasis. The COX-2 concentration was significantly elevated in tumors as compared to normal tissues (p = 0.008). A significant correlation between serum PGE-2 and tumor COX-2 was observed (rho = 0.46, p = 0.009). However, ROC analysis showed that serum PGE-2 may be a weak prognostic factor for ESCC.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results suggest that an elevated concentration of serum PGE-2 in the early stages of cancer may possibly be associated with tumor initiation and cancer development in ESCC. The exact role of these findings in early detection of this highly lethal cancer requires further research.
Department of Gastrointestinal and General Surgery, Medical University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.
Dorota
D
Diakowska
Department of Gastrointestinal and General Surgery, Medical University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.
Krystyna
K
Markocka-Mączka
Department of Gastrointestinal and General Surgery, Medical University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.
Mirosław
M
Nienartowicz
Department of Gastrointestinal and General Surgery, Medical University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.
Andrzej
A
Lewandowski
Department of Gastrointestinal and General Surgery, Medical University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.
Krzysztof
K
Grabowski
cyclooxygenase-2; esophagus; prostaglandin-2; squamous cell carcinoma