Abstract
Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) is the most predominant type of urinary bladder tumor. As cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is recently introduced as an attractive target molecule in bladder TCC, we evaluated the immunohistochemical expression of this marker and its association with several clinicopathological characteristics. This cross-sectional study was performed in the Pathology department of Sina Hospital in Tehran, Iran during 2006-2011. Ninety-two paraffin embedded blocks were selected from patients with urinary bladder TCC who underwent cystectomy or transurethral resection (TUR). Then, we assessed COX-2 expression by immunohistochemical staining using antibody against COX-2. Staining in more than 5% of tumor cells was considered as positive expression. COX-2 was expressed in 50 % of our patients. This marker was markedly expressed in high grade bladder TCC (62.1%) versus other grades and there was statistically a significant difference in COX-2 expression between various grades (p=0.008). In addition, patients' age, lymphatic and perineurial invasion were associated with the expression of COX-2 (p=0.001, 0.015 and 0.039, respectively). However, other parameters such as stage, tumor size, venous invasion and lymph node metastasis did not show any significant relationship with this marker (all, p>0.05). COX-2 was expressed in urinary bladder TCC especially in high grade forms, advocating its probable role in the differentiation of this tumor. Accordingly, COX-2 could be a valuable biological target molecule in the evaluation and treatment of patients with bladder TCC.
Highlights
Bladder cancer is the ninth most common cancer world-wide (Parkin, 2008) and it is the fourth frequent one in males in Iran (Sadjadi et al, 2005)
As cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 is recently introduced as an attractive target molecule in bladder Transitional cell carcinoma (TCC), we evaluated the immunohistochemical expression of this marker and its association with several clinicopathological characteristics
; we demonstrated the marked association between COX-2 expression and patients’ age, tumor grade, lymphatic and perineurial invasion
Summary
Bladder cancer is the ninth most common cancer world-wide (Parkin, 2008) and it is the fourth frequent one in males in Iran (Sadjadi et al, 2005). Cox-2 is a key enzyme in prostaglandins production which is up-regulated in many human tumors such as bladder cancer (Koki and Masferrer, 2002; Pruthi et al, 2004; Meric et al, 2006; Raspollini and Taddei, 2007). It has an important role in cancer initiation and development through the activation of carcinogens, decrease in apoptosis, immunosuppression, angiogenesis and metastasis induction (Pruthi et al, 2004; Meric et al, 2006). We plan this study to determine the immunohistochemical expression of this marker in bladder TCC and its relationship with some clinicopathological characteristics especially tumor grade and stage
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