Tumor cyclooxygenase-2 levels correlate with tumor invasiveness in human hepatocellular carcinoma

Figure 1 Immunohistochemical staining for COX-2. A: a section of a HCC showing expression of the COX-2 protein (brownish staining) predominantly in the tumor cells; B: a section of nontumorous liver tissue showing expression of the COX-2 protein in the hepatocytes (magnification 10×).

Figure 2 Boxplots showing significantly higher tumor COX-2 levels in patients with advanced tumor stage (III and IVA) compared with those with early tumor stage (I or II) (P = 0. 008). The upper and lower horizontal lines of the box indicate the 25^th and 75^th percentiles, respectively. The lines within the box indicate the median values. The upper and lower horizontal bars indicate data within 1.5 times the interquartile range.

Figure 3 Cumulative survival curves of patients with high tumor cytosolic COX-2 (>0. 350 ng/mg total protein) and low tumor cytosolic COX-2 (<0.350 ng/mg total protein) levels (P = 0.027).