Expression and correlation of COX-2 and p53 in human breast cancer

OBJECTIVE:To investigate the expression and correlation of cyclooxygenase (COX-2) and p53 in human breast cancer. METHODS: Forty-eight cases of breast cancer were detected by immunohistochemistry for the expressions of COX-2 and p53 and the relationship between COX-2 and p53 was analyzed together with the clinicopathologic characteristics. RESULTS: COX-2 was expressed in 60.4% of the breast cancer and the over expression correlated with the factors such as tumor larger than 2cm, lymph node mestastasis, negative ER and PR, and had no relations with the age, the pathologic type and the TNM stage.The expression rate of COX-2 in p53 positive breast cancers was 82.6%, significantly higher than that in p53 negative breast cancers, which is only 40%(10/25). CONCLUSION: The expression of COX-2 is significantly related to the expression of p53, which indicates that COX-2 and p53 can regulate each other and induce the tumorigenesis and development together.