El-Sayed Mona, Taha Mahmoud M
Zagazig University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pathology, Zagazig, Egypt.
Turk Neurosurg. 2011 Jan;21(1):27-35.
Cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) appears to play a role in the regulation of progression, invasiveness and angiogenesis of various neoplasms. Experimental studies have indicated that COX-2 regulate angiogenesis by modulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the immunohistochemical expression of COX-2 in astrocytoma, in relation to VEGF expression, microvessel density (MVD), clinicopathologic factors and patient survival.
26 paraffin blocks of astrocytoma, with representative tissues and sufficient follow-up data, were evaluated immunohistochemically for protein marker expression.
COX-2 expression was detected in 21 (80.7%) of 26 astrocytomas with an increased expression in grade IV (100%) as compared to grades II (63.6%) and III (83.3%) (p < 0.001), (r=0.64). A positive correlation was observed between the immunoreactive scores of COX-2, VEGF (p < 0.001), (r=0.61) and MVD (p < 0.001), (r=0.72). Also COX-2 expression was significantly associated with poor survival (p < 0.001), (r=0.58), but did not show significant difference among patient age, sex and tumor location.
COX-2 is up-regulated in the majority of high-grade astrocytomas and may contribute to astrocytic tumorigenesis by promoting new vessel formation. Moreover, increased COX-2 expression is a significant negative predictor of survival. COX-2 inhibitors may represent an important therapeutic target.
环氧化酶-2（Cox-2）似乎在多种肿瘤的进展、侵袭性和血管生成调节中发挥作用。实验研究表明，COX-2通过调节血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）的产生来调节血管生成。本研究的目的是评估COX-2在星形细胞瘤中的免疫组化表达，及其与VEGF表达、微血管密度（MVD）、临床病理因素和患者生存率的关系。
对26个含有代表性组织且有足够随访数据的星形细胞瘤石蜡块进行免疫组化评估，以检测蛋白标志物的表达。
在26例星形细胞瘤中，有21例（80.7%）检测到COX-2表达，与II级（63.6%）和III级（83.3%）相比，IV级（100%）的表达增加（p<0.001），（r=0.64）。COX-2的免疫反应评分与VEGF（p<0.001），（r=0.61）和MVD（p<0.001），（r=0.72）之间存在正相关。此外，COX-2表达与较差的生存率显著相关（p<0.001），（r=0.58），但在患者年龄、性别和肿瘤位置之间未显示出显著差异。
COX-2在大多数高级别星形细胞瘤中上调，可能通过促进新血管形成而有助于星形细胞瘤的发生。此外，COX-2表达增加是生存率的重要负性预测指标。COX-2抑制剂可能是一个重要的治疗靶点。
