Article Text
Abstract
BACKGROUND Experimental, clinical, and epidemiological studies have implicated mitogenic metabolites of arachidonic acid such as prostaglandin E2(PGE2) in colorectal carcinogenesis. Recently, cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) which catalyses the conversion of arachidonic acid to PGE2, has displayed increased levels in human colorectal cancer.
AIMS To evaluate whether there is differential COX-2 expression from different locations (caecum, ascending, transverse, descending, or sigmoid colon, and rectum) in human colorectal cancer.
METHODS Protein levels of COX-2 were determined by western blot analysis in tumours and adjacent normal mucosa of 39 patients with colorectal cancer.
RESULTS There was a notable overexpression of COX-2 protein in tumours located in the rectum (p<0.001) compared with other locations in the colon. Rectal tumours revealed elevated COX-2 protein levels in 18/20 cases compared with 4/19 colonic cases. No association between enhanced COX-2 protein expression in tumour tissue and Dukes’s stages was found.
CONCLUSIONS Results suggest that the differential COX-2 expression may be due to differences in gene regulatory factors affecting COX-2 expression and/or reflect secondary changes in tumour progression which may have clinical implications.
- cyclooxygenase 2
- protein expression
- human colorectal cancer
Abbreviations used in this paper
- APC
- adenomatous polyposis coli
- COX
- cyclooxygenase
- cPLA2
- cytosolic phospholipase A2
- NSAID
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug
- PGE2
- prostaglandin E2
- PLA2-II
- group II phospholipase A2
- PPARγ
- peroxisome proliferator activated receptor
- TCF/LEF
- T cell factor/leucocyte enhancing factor
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Abbreviations used in this paper
- APC
- adenomatous polyposis coli
- COX
- cyclooxygenase
- cPLA2
- cytosolic phospholipase A2
- NSAID
- non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug
- PGE2
- prostaglandin E2
- PLA2-II
- group II phospholipase A2
- PPARγ
- peroxisome proliferator activated receptor
- TCF/LEF
- T cell factor/leucocyte enhancing factor