[Relationship between the expression of cyclooxygenase-2 and microvessel density in oral squamnous cell carcinoma].

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To detective the relationship between cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and angiogenesis in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and its clinical significance through observing the expression of COX-2 and determining microvessel density (MVD) in OSCC. METHODS: PV-9000 immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of COX-2 and CD34, which was used to determine MVD, in 76 OSCC tissues and 12 normal oral mucosa tissues. RESULTS: Overexpression of COX-2 was detected in OSCC, and was more intense compared with normal epithelium (P < 0.001). The high expression of COX-2 in OSCC was related to neck lymphnode metastasis, tumor size, TNM stage and histological grade (P <0.05). The MVD value in COX-2-positive group was much higher than that in COX-2-negative group (P < 0.01) and that in normal oral mucosa tissues (P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: The high expression of COX-2 in OSCC was significantly associated with MVD, neck lymphnode metastasis, tumor size, TNM stage and histological grade. COX-2 might be one of the important factors in the angiogenesis of OSCC.