Immunohistochemical Study of COX-2 and MMP-2 in Human Renal Cell Carcinoma

Objective To study the expression of COX-2 in human renal cell carcinoma(hRCC) and its relation to invasion and metastasis of RCC.Methods The expression of COX-2 and MMP-2 in primary RCCs specimens were detected by immunohistochemical technique.Results There was no or weak expression in non-carcinomatous speciments of renal. Overexpression of COX-2 in renal cell carcinomas was related to its pathologic grading, clinical staging and histological type( P 0.01 ); The expression of MMP-2 in normal renal tissue was negative. The expression of MMP-2 was related to the pathologic grading and histological type( P 0.01 ),But the expression of MMP-2 was not related to clinical staging( P 0.05 ) .The correlation was found between COX-2 and MMP-2.Conclusion The overexpression of COX-2 in renal cell carcinoma may play a crucial role in its pathologic grading, clinical staging,histological type,invasion and metastasis in renal cell carcinoma,indicating that COX-2 may provide a target for chemotherapy strategy for renal cell carcinoma.