Effects of a selective COX-2 inhibitor in patients with uterine endometrial cancers

Kiyoshi Hasegawa, Yutaka Torii, Risa Ishii, Shuko Oe, Rina Kato, Yasuhiro Udagawa

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

19 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose: COX-2 is highly expressed in endometrial cancers, suggesting that a selective COX-2 inhibitor could be valuable for treating endometrial cancers that overexpress COX-2. In this study, we investigated the anti-tumor effects of the selective COX-2 inhibitor etodolac on endometrial cancer patients. Methods: Etodolac (400 mg, bid, for 2 weeks) was administered preoperatively to 21 endometrial cancer patients who had provided informed consent. Using pre-treatment biopsies and post-treatment surgical specimens, the expression levels of COX-2, Ki-67, p53, p21, p27, and cyclin D1 were evaluated by immunohistochemistry and the apoptotic index (AI) was determined by TUNEL staining. Preoperative biopsies and surgical specimens from 32 patients with endometrial cancer not treated with etodolac served as controls. Results: Surgical specimens from COX-2 positive endometrial cancer patients treated with etodolac had significantly reduced expression levels of COX-2, Ki-67, p53, p21, p27, and cyclin D1 as determined by immunohistochemistry, while AI was not affected. These markers were unchanged for COX-2 negative endometrial cancer patients treated with etodolac and the control group. Conclusions: The selective COX-2 inhibitor etodolac showed anti-proliferative effects by suppressing COX-2 and cell-cycle regulator protein expression in patients with endometrial cancer positive for COX-2 expression. This study demonstrates that a selective COX-2 inhibitor is a potentially beneficial treatment for COX-2 positive endometrial cancers.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1515-1521
Number of pages7
JournalArchives of Gynecology and Obstetrics
Volume284
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 12-2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Obstetrics and Gynaecology

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