Immunohistochemical study of cyclooxygenase-2 in skin tumors.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

Anti-cancerous effects of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors have been reported in different cancers. High expression of COX-2 has been demonstrated in various neoplasms such as colorectal, gastric, esophageal, breast, non-small cell lung cancers, and pre-neoplastic lesions such as colorectal adenomas and Barrett's esophagus.

GOAL:

The purpose of this study was to investigate percentage of positive COX-2 expression in skin tumors, including pre-malignant and malignant tumors.

METHODS:

This is an analytic cross-sectional study that includes 62 skin tumor samples, among which 49 samples were malignant and 13 were pre-malignant. After study for determination of pathologic kind of tumors, samples underwent immunohistochemical study for COX-2 expression. The DakoCytomation EnVision+System-HRP is a two-step extremely sensitive IHC staining technique which we used in this study.

RESULTS:

Among the skin tumors, a considerable number of COX-2 expression were found in squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) (16 of 17; 94%), basal cell carcinomas (BCC) (28 of 32; 87.5%), Bowen's disease (BD) (8 of 9; 89%), and actinic keratosis (AK) (4 of 4; 100%).

CONCLUSION:

COX-2 expression was positive in skin tumors including malignant and pre-malignant skin lesions. This study strongly suggests that COX-2 can be one of the molecular targets in treating various skin tumors.

• Authors: Mehdi Amirnia, Arash Babaie-Ghazani, Ashraf Fakhrjou, Effat Khodaeiani, Hossein Alikhah, Mohammad Naghavi-behzad, Armin Zarrintan
• Journal: The Journal of dermatological treatment (J Dermatolog Treat) Vol. 25 Issue 5 Pg. 380-7 (Oct 2014) ISSN: 1471-1753 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 22667343 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Cyclooxygenase 2

Topics

• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Bowen's Disease (metabolism)
• Carcinoma, Basal Cell (metabolism)
• Carcinoma, Squamous Cell (metabolism)
• Cross-Sectional Studies
• Cyclooxygenase 2 (biosynthesis)
• Female
• Humans
• Immunohistochemistry
• Keratosis, Actinic (metabolism)
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Skin (metabolism)
• Skin Neoplasms (metabolism)
• Young Adult