Roca-Ferrer Jordi, Pujols Laura, Agusti Carlos, Xaubet Antoni, Mullol Joaquim, Gimferrer Josep M, Picado César
Institut d'Investigacions Biomèdiques August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS), Barcelona, España.
Arch Bronconeumol. 2011 Dec;47(12):584-9. doi: 10.1016/j.arbres.2011.05.015. Epub 2011 Jul 27.
The expression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) is usually increased in inflammation and cancer. This study examines the expression of COX-2 in the lung of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients with lung cancer.
We studied 44 male patients with bronchial cancer (27 squamous carcinoma and 17 adenocarcinoma). Samples were obtained from the pulmonary parenchyma, from the bronchial mucosa adjacent to the tumor and from the tumor itself. Lung tissue specimens from 14 patients with pneumothorax were used as control. The mRNA and the COX-1 and COX-2 proteins were assessed by RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively.
COX-1 and COX-2 mRNA levels were significantly higher in the lung parenchyma of COPD patients than in the control subjects. COX-2 mRNA levels were also higher in the lung parenchyma than in both tumor and airway tissue samples procured from COPD patients. There were no differences in the COX-2 mRNA levels between squamous carcinoma and adenocarcinoma. In contrast, COX-2 protein levels were significantly higher in tumors than in lung parenchyma and airways. COX-2 protein levels were higher in adenocarcinoma compared with squamous carcinoma.
This study shows that in COPD, the pathway of cyclooxygenase is activated and associated with an increase in the expression of COX-2 in lung tumors. These observations suggest that COX-2 is possibly involved in the association between COPD and cancer.
环氧化酶2（COX-2）的表达通常在炎症和癌症中增加。本研究检测慢性阻塞性肺疾病（COPD）合并肺癌患者肺组织中COX-2的表达情况。
我们研究了44例男性支气管癌患者（27例鳞癌和17例腺癌）。样本取自肺实质、肿瘤旁支气管黏膜及肿瘤本身。选取14例气胸患者的肺组织标本作为对照。分别采用逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）和蛋白质免疫印迹法检测mRNA及COX-1和COX-2蛋白。
COPD患者肺实质中COX-1和COX-2 mRNA水平显著高于对照组。COPD患者肺实质中COX-2 mRNA水平也高于肿瘤组织和气道组织样本。鳞癌和腺癌之间COX-2 mRNA水平无差异。相比之下，肿瘤组织中COX-2蛋白水平显著高于肺实质和气道组织。腺癌中COX-2蛋白水平高于鳞癌。
本研究表明，在COPD中，环氧化酶途径被激活，且与肺肿瘤中COX-2表达增加有关。这些观察结果提示COX-2可能参与了COPD与癌症之间的关联。
