Coexpression Phenomenon Of COX-2 And HER-2/neu In Breast Cancer Its Clinical Significance

Objective:To observe the expression of COX-2 and its relation to Objective: expression in patients with breast cancer, and to analyze the impact of COX-2 expression and the impact of coexpression in COX-2 and HER-2/neu on disease-free survival in breast cancer patients. Methods:The expression of COX-2 and HER-2/neu was determined by immunohis tochemistry in 120 patients with primary breast cancer. Results:Expression of COX-2 was detected in 60﹪of breast carcinoma samples and was significantly associated with HER-2/neu expression (P=0.009). In univariate survival analysis, a significant association was observed between expression of COX-2 and disease-free survival(P=0.016). In the multivariate analysis, Both the expression of COX-2 and HER-2/neu and the metastasis in lymph node had significant relation to disease-free survival(P=0.013,P=0.047,P=0.038). Conclusions:There is co-expression of COX-2 and HER-2/neu in breast carcinoma. Co-expression of COX-2 and HER-2/neu may be a negative survival factor for disease free survival, therefore treatment with selective inhibitors of COX-2 may be an additional option for treatment of patients with breast carcinoma.