Expression and Significance of Cyclooxygenase-2 in Human Pancreatic Carcinomas

Abstract

Objective: The inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may prevent the occurrence and decrease the incidence of gastrointestinal malignant neoplasms. This study was designed to detect the expression patterns of COX-2 in human normal, benign, and malignant pancreatic tissues and investigate the correlation between the expression of COX-2 and Bcl-2 in malignant pancreatic tissues, which may help to demonstrate the functional role of COX-2 and Bcl-2 in pancreatic carcinogenesis and carcinoma development. Methods: Immunohistological analysis of COX-2 and Bcl-2 was performed on different human pancreatic samples, including malignant tissues. The correlation between COX-2 and Bcl-2, as well as clinic-pathological characteristics of pancreatic carcinoma was evaluated by statistic analysis. Results: COX-2 and Bcl-2 proteins were detected in 22 of 30 (73.3%) and 20 of 30 (66.7%) malignant pancreatic tissues, which were higher than those in normal and benign tissues (P<0.05). There was positive correlation between the expression of COX-2 and Bcl-2 in pancreatic carcinoma (r=0.470, P<0.01). Patients’ age, sex, tumor location, size, histological degree, and TNM staging did not have effect on the expression of COX-2 in the malignant tissues (P>0.05). Conclusion: COX-2 protein is over-expressed in human malignant pancreatic tissues. The co-expression of COX-2 and Bcl-2 might play an important role in the regulation of apoptosis of pancreatic carcinoma cells.