Over-expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in human prostate adenocarcinoma

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Abstract
Aberrant or increased expression of cyclooxygenase (COX)‐2 has been implicated in the pathogenesis of many diseases including carcinogenesis. COX‐2 has been shown to be over‐expressed in some human cancers. Employing semi‐quantitative reverse transcription‐PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry we assessed COX‐2 expression in samples of pair‐matched benign and cancer tissue obtained from the same prostate cancer patient. Mean levels of COX‐2 mRNA were 3.4‐fold higher in prostate cancer tissue (n = 12) compared with the paired benign tissue. The immunoblot analysis demonstrated that as compared to benign tissue COX‐2 protein was over‐expressed in 10 of 12 samples examined. Immunohistochemical analysis also verified COX‐2 over‐expression in cancer than in benign tissue. To our knowledge, this is the first in vivo study showing an over‐expression of COX‐2 in prostate cancer. These data suggest that COX‐2 inhibitors may be useful for prevention or therapy of prostate cancer in humans. Prostate 42:73–78, 2000.

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