Relationship between expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and proliferation and apoptosis in esophageal carcinoma

Objective:To study the relationship between the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and proliferation and apoptosis in esophageal carcinoma.Methods:A total of 96 patients and 20 control patients were studied,the expression of COX-2 and bcl-2 and PCNA were examined by immunohistochemistry,the apoptosis was determined by counting the number of cells labeled by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL)method.The proliferation index(PI) and apoptotic index(AI) were calculated.Results:Expression of COX-2 and bcl-2 in carcinoma tissue were significantly higher than those in normal control tissue( P 0.05).Expression of AI in carcinoma tissue was significantly lower than those in normal control tissue.Expression of COX-2 and PI were highly correlated with lymph node metastasis and vascular invasion and stage of cancer.Conclusion:COX-2 can enhance the cell proliferation and suppress apoptosis and induce the esophageal carcinoma by up-regulated bcl-2.