The expression and significance of cyclooxygenase-2 in bladder transitional cell carcinoma

Objective To investigate the expression and significance of cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2)in bladder transitional cell carcinoma(BTCC)and analyze its correlation with the biological behavior of the tumor.Methods 53 cases of BTCC and 12 cases of normal bladder mucosa were detected by the immunohistochemical S-P staining.Results COX-2 was negatively expressed in normal bladder mucosal epithelia and the rate of positive expressions of COX-2 was 66.0% in BTCC group.COX-2 overexpression in G1,G2 and G3 were 28.6%、64.8% and 85.0% respectively,which were significantly different(P0.05).Statistically significance was also found in different clinical pathological stage(P0.01),which were 59.4% in non-invasive group(Tis-T1)and 85.7% in invasive group(T2-T4).COX-2 positive expression significantly higher in recurrence than thet in primary BTCC group(P0.01).Conclusion COX-2 positive expression in BTCC is closely associated with tumor grade、invasiveness and recurrence,which may be used as an useful maker for evaluation the biological behaviors of BTCC.