Expression of COX-2 and VEGF in human astrocytomas and its relations with pathological grades

Objective To investigate the expression of cyclooxygenase-2(COX-2) and vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) and their relationships with the pathological characteristics of human astrocytomas.Methods Immunohistochemistry method was used to investigate the expression of COX-2 and VEGF among human astrocytoma samples(n=50) and normal brain tissue (n=10) respectively.Results The positive rate of COX-2 and VEGF was different between the human astrocytomas and normal brain tissue(P0.01).The expression of COX-2 in human astrocytomas was related to the tumor's pathological grades(P0.05).The expression of VEGF was closely associated with COX-2(P0.01).Conclusions COX-2 and VEGF may be involved in gliomas'occurance and development.Expression of COX-2 and VEGF protein was positively correlated with malignant phenotype of gliomas.