title: EpCAM and COX‑2 expression are positively correlated in human breast cancer.
abstract: Upregulation of the epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EpCAM) is involved in tumor progression. Cyclooxygenase (COX)‑2 is the key enzyme catalyzing prostaglandin synthesis and is involved in breast cancer progression and metastasis. However, the prognostic value of EpCAM and its putative correlation with COX‑2 in breast cancer have yet to be elucidated. The aim of the present study was to assess the clinical relevance of the relationship between EpCAM and COX‑2, via examining the putative correlation between EpCAM and COX‑2 expression in various types of human breast cancer. A total of 134 breast cancer tissue samples was examined in the present study. Immunohistochemistry approach was used to detect EpCAM and COX‑2 expression in the tissue microarrays. Spearman's correlation analysis was performed to evaluate the correlation between the protein expression and clinicopathological parameters present in patients with various tumor subtypes, with the aim to potentially establish a relationship between EpCAM/COX‑2 and clinical prognosis. Expression of EpCAM and COX‑2 was revealed to be associated with tumor progression, and poor prognosis in breast cancer. The present findings demonstrated that EpCAM was involved in the regulation of COX‑2 expression, and a positive correlation between the proteins was associated with poor prognosis in patients with breast cancer. The present results suggest that EpCAM and COX‑2 may have potential as prognostic biomarkers in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oncology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University, Dalian, Liaoning 116044, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shuhang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Department of Nephrology, Hematology and Rheumatology, Yantai Affiliated Hospital, Binzhou Medical College, Yantai, Shandong 264000, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University, Liaoning Provincial Core Lab of Glycobiology and Glycoengineering, Dalian, Liaoning 116044, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xue
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University, Liaoning Provincial Core Lab of Glycobiology and Glycoengineering, Dalian, Liaoning 116044, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Dandan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University, Liaoning Provincial Core Lab of Glycobiology and Glycoengineering, Dalian, Liaoning 116044, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xuesong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000071858:Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D000071858:Epithelial Cell Adhesion Molecule; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2