Expression and significance of COX-2, Ki-67 in colorectal carcinoma

Objective To investigate the expression of cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) and transcription factor Ki-67 in colorectal carcinoma and their relationship with invasion and metastasis. Methods The expressions of COX-2 and Ki-67 were measured by immunohistochemical method staining in one hundred and twenty cases with colorectal carcinoma, forty cases with dysplasia tissue closely adjacent to carcinomas, and twenty cases with normal colorectal mucosa specimens.All the clinical and follow-up information were reviewed and evaluated.Fisher′s exat test, spearman′s correlation analysis, chi-square test were used to analyze the expressions of COX-2 and Ki-67. Results The expressions of COX-2 and Ki-67 in colorectal cancer tissues(78.3%, 73.3%, respectively) were obviously higher than those in adjacent tissues (25.0%, 35.0%, respectively) and normal mucosal tissues (10.0%, 20.0%, respectively) (COX-2: χ2=18.755, P 0.05), and there was no significant difference between colorectal dysplasia tissue and normal colorectal mucosa tissue. Conclusions The abnormal expressions of COX-2 and Ki-67 plays an important role in the genesis and development of colorectal carcinoma and may be responsible for the enhanced activity in tumor-induced neovascularization, invasion and metastasis.COX-2 and Ki-67 have positively expressive correlation and may serve as valuable indicators of biological behavior of colorectal carcinoma.COX-2 and Ki-67 may be the prognostic discriminators of colorectal carcinoma. Key words: Colonic neoplasms; Cyclooxygenase 2; Ki-67; Prognosis