Is overexpression of cyclooxygenase-2 associated with a favorable prognostic phenotype in breast carcinoma?
The current data suggest that increased expression of COX-2 may be related to breast carcinomas with less aggressive phenotype. This suggestion is further supported by the positive correlation between COX-2 and PPARgamma, since the latter is considered to be indicative of a less malignant phenotype of tumor cells.
The data demonstrate that T lymphocytes and macrophages appeared to play an important role in the induction of COX-2 expression in prostate epithelium, which was associated with increased cell proliferation and possibly, due to overexpression of Bcl-2, apoptotic resistance. This suggests that pro-inflammatory cytokines released by adjacent inflammatory cells may induce COX-2 in the epithelial cells in prostate atrophic lesions. In addition, COX-2 expressing cells may be involved in the pathogenesis of prostate cancer.