Colorectal Cancer
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2004. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 15, 2004; 10(16): 2323-2326
Published online Aug 15, 2004. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v10.i16.2323
COX-2 expression and tumor angiogenesis in colorectal cancer
Ai-Wen Wu, Jin Gu, Zhen-Fu Li, Jia-Fu Ji, Guang-Wei Xu
Ai-Wen Wu, Jin Gu, Jia-Fu Ji, Guang-Wei Xu, Department of Surgery, Beijing Cancer Hospital, Beijing Institute for Cancer Research, School of Oncology, Peking University, Beijing 100036, China
Zhen-Fu Li, Department of Biochemistry, Beijing Cancer Hospital, Beijing Institute for Cancer Research, School of Oncology, Peking University, Beijing 100036, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Dr. Guang-Wei Xu, Department of Surgery, Beijing Cancer Hospital, Beijing Institute for Cancer Research, School of Oncology, Peking University, 52 Fucheng Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100036, China. gwx@caca.edu.cn
Telephone: +86-10-88122452 Fax: +86-10-88122452
Received: November 17, 2003
Revised: December 2, 2003
Accepted: December 22, 2003
Published online: August 15, 2004
Abstract

AIM: Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is one of the rate-limiting enzymes in metabolism of arachidonic acid, and COX-2 inhibitors demonstrate preventive effects on cancer, especially on colorectal cancer. The underlying mechanism remains unclear. The aim of this study was to illustrate the relationship between angiogenesis and COX-2 in carcinogenesis of colorectal cancer.

METHODS: One hundred and seventy patients with colorectal cancer were enrolled in our study from January 1993 to September 2001 in School of Oncology, Peking University. COX-2 and VEGF expression were detected with the immunohistochemistry (IHC) technique. IHC assays were carried out with the aid of tissue microarray (TMA) procedure. Specimens from 35 of these patients were examined with reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR).

RESULTS: COX-2 and VEGF expressions were stronger in colorectal cancer than those in the corresponding normal tissues, at both protein and mRNA levels. One hundred patients were eligible for analysis after IHC assay of COX-2 and VEGF. The positive rate of VEGF was much higher in COX-2 positive group (47/85) than in COX-2 negative group (χ2 = 4.181, P = 0.041). The result was further verified by the result of RT-PCR (χ2 = 8.517, P = 0.003). Correlation coefficient was 0.409 after Spearman correlation analysis (P = 0.015).

CONCLUSION: COX-2 may be involved in the course of tumor angiogenesis of colorectal cancer and acts through VEGF.

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