Expression of Cox-2 and Bcl-2 in Paget's disease of the breast.
BACKGROUND
Paget's disease (PD) is a rare form of intraepithelial adenocarcinoma that involves breast and extramammarian tissues. It is often associated with ductal carcinoma in situ and/or invasive ductal cancer. Molecular pathways that play a role in development of Paget's disease are stil unclear. Expression patterns of Cox-2 and bcl-2 were therefore assessed.


METHODS
Patients with a histopathological diagnosis of Paget's disease were included in this study. Patient files were analysed retrospectively.


RESULTS
Invasive cancer was diagnosed in 35 (76.1%) of the patients, 7 (15.2%) had ductal carcinoma in situ and 4 (8.7%) patients had no associated neoplasm. Twenty four (52.2%) patients showed COX-2 expression in Paget cells whereas no expression was seen in 22 (47.8%) patients. No relation was found between COX-2 expression and the lesion underlying Paget's disease (p=0.518). Bcl-2 expression in Paget cells was found positive in 12 (26.1%) and negative in 27 (58,7%) cases. There was no relation between Bcl-2 expression and the lesion accompanying Paget's disease (p=0.412). No relation was observed between COX-2 expression and Bcl-2 expression (p=0.389).


CONCLUSIONS
In breast cancer, COX-2 expression is associated with poor prognostic factors. As COX-2 expression increases the tendency to metastasize also increases. In our study we found a significantly high COX-2 expression in Paget's disease of the breast. We suggest that COX-2 expression and inflammatory processes may play a role in pathogenesis of the Paget's disease of the breast.
Department of Pathology, Antalya Education and Research Hospital, Antalya, Turkey E-mail : drsgunduz@gmail.com.
Arsenal Sezgin
AS
Alikanoglu
Mustafa
M
Yildirim
Dinc
D
Suren
Birsel
B
Tutus
Vildan
V
Kaya
Cumhur Selcuk
CS
Topal
Sevinc
S
Keser
Ayse Nimet
AN
Karadayi
Fatma Nilgun
FN
Kapucuoglu
Sebnem
S
Ayva
Seyda
S
Gunduz
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010144:Paget's Disease, Mammary / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011379:Prognosis; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2; C496540:PTGS2 protein, human