Dias Pereira P, Lopes C C, Matos A J F, Santos M, Gärtner F, Medeiros R, Lopes C
Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar.
J Comp Pathol. 2009 May;140(4):247-53. doi: 10.1016/j.jcpa.2008.12.005. Epub 2009 Feb 8.
COX-2 expression was examined immunohistochemically in samples of normal canine mammary tissue (n=22) and benign (n=36) and malignant (n=45) mammary tumours including metastases (n=12). COX-2 was constitutively expressed in normal mammary tissue with membranous apical labelling of glandular epithelium, suggesting a role for this molecule in normal mammary physiology. By contrast, in neoplastic lesions and in adjacent non-neoplastic mammary tissue COX-2 was expressed in the cytoplasm of epithelial cells, suggesting that internalization of the molecule is associated with oncogenesis. Marked expression of COX-2 was observed in 8.3% of benign neoplasms and in 42.2% of malignant neoplasms, mainly in poorly differentiated areas. The majority of metastatic lesions (58.3%) exhibited strong COX-2 labelling and in almost all cases (83.3%) the labelling intensity was similar or stronger to that of the primary neoplasm. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that COX-2 metabolites are important promoters of angiogenesis and invasiveness and therefore contribute to metastatic spread.
采用免疫组织化学方法检测了正常犬乳腺组织样本（n = 22）、良性乳腺肿瘤样本（n = 36）和恶性乳腺肿瘤样本（n = 45，包括转移瘤样本12例）中的COX - 2表达情况。COX - 2在正常乳腺组织中呈组成性表达，腺上皮有膜性顶端标记，提示该分子在正常乳腺生理过程中发挥作用。相比之下，在肿瘤性病变及相邻的非肿瘤性乳腺组织中，COX - 2表达于上皮细胞的细胞质中，提示该分子的内化与肿瘤发生有关。在8.3%的良性肿瘤和42.2%的恶性肿瘤中观察到COX - 2的显著表达，主要在低分化区域。大多数转移瘤（58.3%）表现出强烈的COX - 2标记，并且在几乎所有病例（83.3%）中，标记强度与原发肿瘤相似或更强。这一发现与COX - 2代谢产物是血管生成和侵袭的重要促进因子并因此促进转移扩散这一假说一致。
