Abstract |
Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) overexpression is implicated in increased risk and poorer outcomes in breast cancer in young women. We investigated COX-2 regulation in normal premenopausal breast tissue and its relationship to malignancy in young women. Quantitative COX-2 immunohistochemistry was performed on adjacent normal and breast cancer tissues from 96 premenopausal women with known clinical reproductive histories, and on rat mammary glands with distinct ovarian hormone exposures. COX-2 expression in the normal breast epithelium varied more than 40-fold between women and was associated with COX-2 expression levels in ductal carcinoma in situ and invasive cancer. Normal breast COX-2 expression was independent of known breast cancer prognostic indicators, including tumor stage and clinical subtype, indicating that factors regulating physiological COX-2 expression may be the primary drivers of COX-2 expression in breast cancer. Ovarian hormones, particularly at pregnancy levels, were identified as modulators of COX-2 in normal mammary epithelium. However, serial breast biopsy analysis in nonpregnant premenopausal women suggested relatively stable baseline levels of COX-2 expression, which persisted independent of menstrual cycling. These data provide impetus to investigate how baseline COX-2 expression is regulated in premenopausal breast tissue because COX-2 levels in normal breast epithelium may prove to be an indicator of breast cancer risk in young women, and predict the chemopreventive and therapeutic efficacy of COX-2 inhibitors in this population.
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Authors | Jaime Fornetti, Sonali Jindal, Kara A Middleton, Virginia F Borges, Pepper Schedin |
Journal | The American journal of pathology
(Am J Pathol)
Vol. 184
Issue 4
Pg. 1219-1229
(Apr 2014)
ISSN: 1525-2191 [Electronic] United States |
PMID | 24518566
(Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.)
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Copyright | Copyright © 2014 American Society for Investigative Pathology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
Chemical References |
- Biomarkers, Tumor
- Cyclooxygenase 2
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Topics |
- Adult
- Animals
- Biomarkers, Tumor
(analysis)
- Breast Neoplasms
(enzymology, pathology)
- Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast
(enzymology, pathology)
- Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating
(enzymology, pathology)
- Cyclooxygenase 2
(biosynthesis)
- Female
- Humans
- Immunoblotting
- Immunohistochemistry
- Middle Aged
- Rats
- Rats, Sprague-Dawley
- Young Adult
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