The Relationship Of COX-2 And HIF-1α Expression In HCC

Objective To investigate the clinical significance of expression of COX-2 (Cyclooxygenase-2) in HCC (Primary hepatocellular carcinoma) and clarify whether COX-2 correlated with HIF-1α (hypoxia-inducible factor-1α) in the tumorigenesis and development of HCC. And try to clarify the possible antineoplastic mechanism of selective COX-2 inhibitor.Methods Tumor tissues were obtained from 53 patients who underwent resection of HCC in our hospitail. Immunohistochemical method was used to detect the expression of COX-2 and HIF-1α in the tumor tissue. And 53 patients were regularly followed up and the clinical data were collected prospectively. In addition, all the tissues were clarified into 3 teams to determine the relationship of COX-2 and HIF-1α in HCC. SMMC-7721 cell was cultured under the condition of normal and hypoxia which was induced by the Cobaltchloride. Western-blotting was employed to evaluate the effects of variant concentration of meloxicam on the expression of HIF-la protein in SMMC-7721 cell.Results Immunostaining showed expression of COX-2 (n=33, 62.3%) and HIF-la (n=36, 67.9%) in the 53 tumor tissues. Correlation with clinicopathological features showed significantly higher tumor cytosolic COX-2 levels in the presence of multiple tumors (P=0.01), venous invasion (P=0.03), advanced tumor stage (P=0.01), and well-different...