Cyclooxygenase-2 Expression in Ovarian Tumors.

Sohn, Woo Seok; Min, Bong Sik; Kim, Chang Mo; Kim, Sung Joo; Kang, Jung Bae; Park, Hye Rim; Jang, Pong Rheem

Original Article

Korean Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology 2001;44(7):1237-1241.
Published online July 1, 2001.

Cyclooxygenase-2 Expression in Ovarian Tumors.

Woo Seok Sohn, Bong Sik Min, Chang Mo Kim, Sung Joo Kim, Jung Bae Kang, Hye Rim Park, Pong Rheem Jang

¹Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Korea.
²Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Korea.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE
A large body of evidence suggests that cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is important in tumorigenesis of gastrointestinal and other cancers. This was the study to determine whether COX-2 was also expressed in benign and malignant ovarian tumors. METHODS: We studied the expression of COX-2 in various ovarian tumors [ Benign epithelial tumors (n=10), borderline epithelial tumors (n=12), malignant epithelial tumor (n=12), nonepithelial tumors(n=10) ] by immunohistochemistry. Results of immunoreactivity was classified semiquantitatively based on the proportion and intensity of tumor cell immunostaining. RESULTS: In the epithelial ovarian tumors, the intensity of immunostaining was stronger in the malignant tumors than the benign and borderline tumors (p<0.001). Especially all serous and mucinous malignant tumors (n=9) showed weak and strong immunoreactivity, with 66.7% strong reactivity. None of the nonepithelial ovarian tumors expressed COX-2 immunoreactivity. CONCLUSION: These preliminary data indicate that COX-2 may have a role in carcinogenesis of epithelial ovarian tumors, especially in the serous and mucinous types. COX-2 maybe a target for future research in the tumorigenesis of the epithelial ovarian malignancies.

Key Words: Cyclooxygenase-2, epithelial ovarian tumors