Cervello Melchiorre, Foderàa Daniela, Florena Ada Maria, Soresi Maurizio, Tripodo Claudio, D'Alessandro Natale, Montalto Giuseppe
Istituto di Biomedicina e Immunologia Molecolare Alberto Monroy, Palermo 90146, Italy.
World J Gastroenterol. 2005 Aug 14;11(30):4638-43. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v11.i30.4638.
To investigate the association of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression with angiogenesis and the number and type of inflammatory cells (macrophages/Kupffer cells; mast cells) within primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues and adjacent non-tumorous (NT) tissues.
Immunohistochemistry for COX-2, CD34, CD68 and mast cell tryptase (MC(T)) was performed on 14 well-characterized series of liver-cirrhosis-associated HCC patients. COX-2 expression and the number of inflammatory cells in tumor lesions and surrounding liver tissues of each specimen were compared. Moreover, COX-2, CD34 staining and the number of inflammatory cells in areas with different histological degrees within each tumor sample were comparatively analyzed.
The percentage of COX-2 positive cells was significantly higher in NT tissues than in tumors. COX-2 expression was higher in well-differentiated HCC than in poorly-differentiated tissues. Few mast cells were observed within the tumor mass, whereas a higher number was observed in the surrounding tissue, especially in peri-portal spaces of NT tissues. Abundant macrophages/Kupffer cells were observed in NT tissues, whereas the number of cells was significantly lower in the tumor mass. However, a higher cell number was observed in the well-differentiated tumor and progressively decreased in relation to the differentiation grade. Within the tumor, a positive correlation was found between COX-2 expression and the number of macrophages/Kupffer cells and mast cells. Moreover, there was a positive correlation between CD34 and COX-2 expression in tumor tissues. Comparison between well- and poorly-differentiated HCC showed that the number of CD34-positive cells decreased with dedifferentiation. However, COX-2 was the only independent variable showing a positive correlation with CD34 in a multivariate analysis.
The presence of inflammatory cells and COX-2 expression in liver tumor suggests a possible relationship with tumor angiogenesis. COX-2 expressing cells and the number of macrophages/Kupffer cells and mast cells decrease with progression of the disease.
研究环氧化酶-2（COX-2）表达与原发性肝细胞癌（HCC）组织及相邻非肿瘤（NT）组织中血管生成以及炎性细胞（巨噬细胞/库普弗细胞；肥大细胞）数量和类型之间的关联。
对14例特征明确的肝硬化相关性HCC患者系列样本进行COX-2、CD34、CD68和肥大细胞类胰蛋白酶（MC(T)）的免疫组织化学检测。比较每个标本肿瘤病变及周围肝组织中COX-2表达和炎性细胞数量。此外，对每个肿瘤样本中不同组织学分级区域的COX-2、CD34染色及炎性细胞数量进行比较分析。
COX-2阳性细胞百分比在NT组织中显著高于肿瘤组织。COX-2在高分化HCC中的表达高于低分化组织。肿瘤块内观察到的肥大细胞较少，而在周围组织中观察到的数量较多，尤其是在NT组织的门静脉周围间隙。NT组织中观察到丰富的巨噬细胞/库普弗细胞，而肿瘤块中的细胞数量显著较低。然而，在高分化肿瘤中观察到的细胞数量较多，并随着分化程度逐渐减少。在肿瘤内，COX-2表达与巨噬细胞/库普弗细胞和肥大细胞数量之间存在正相关。此外，肿瘤组织中CD34与COX-2表达之间存在正相关。高分化与低分化HCC的比较显示，CD34阳性细胞数量随去分化而减少。然而，在多变量分析中，COX-2是唯一与CD34呈正相关的独立变量。
肝肿瘤中炎性细胞的存在及COX-2表达提示其与肿瘤血管生成可能存在关联。随着疾病进展，COX-2表达细胞以及巨噬细胞/库普弗细胞和肥大细胞数量减少。
