COX-2 Expression in Carcinoma of the Breast and Surrounding Non-neoplastic Breast Tissue

Breast carcinoma is the most common malignant tumor and leading cause of cancer related death in women worldwide. Apart from traditional markers, estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and Her-2neu, which are important for prognostication and staging purposes, a novel marker cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is being studied extensively. We intend to study the spectrum of COX-2 expression in normal breast tissue, ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) adjacent to invasive cancer, and in invasive cancer and compare COX-2 expression with histological prognostic parameters and hormone receptor status.

The present study is a prospective study that was conducted in the department of Pathology, SGT Medical College and Hospital, Gurugram (2019- 2020). Fifty patients, aged between 21 and 70, suffering from primary breast cancer constituted the study group. Various histological prognostic parameters were assessed. Immunohistochemical profile of the tumor was assessed. COX-2 score was correlated with various clinicopathologic parameters.

Among the total of 50 patients suffering from invasive breast carcinoma, 94 percent (47/50) of cases showed the same COX-2 expression level in normal breast epithelium and corresponding tumor areas and this correlation was statistically significant. The correlation between the level of COX-2 expression in tumor and DCIS was highly significant.

Inhibition of COX-2 may represent a potential target for preventing breast cancer oncogenesis and as an adjuvant treatment following surgery to reduce local recurrence.