Correlation between expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and invasiveness and metastasis in gastric carcinoma

Objective To evaluate the expression of cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) in gastric carcinoma and its relationship with invasion and metastasis of the disease.Methods Immunohistochemical stain was used for detecting the expression of COX-2 in 45 resected specimens of gastric carcinoma. Paracancerous tissues were examined as control. Results The rate of COX-2 expression in gastric cancers was significantly increased compared with that in paracancerous tissues (77.8%,33.3%,P0.01).In 36 gastric carcinoma specimens with lymph node metastasis, the rate of COX-2 expression was higher than that in the specimens without metastasis(86.1%, 44.4%,P0.05).The rate of COX-2 expression in the specimens with invaded serosa was significantly higher than that without invaded serosa(87.9%,50.0%,P0.05).The rate of COX-2 expression in cancers of stage Ⅲ and Ⅳ was significantly higher than that in stage Ⅰ and Ⅱ.Conclusion These data indicate that the rate of COX-2 expression is well correlated with lymph-node metastasis, depth of invasion and TNM stages.