Cox-2 specific inhibitors are known to inhibit colon and prostate cancer growth in humans; however, recent findings show that some of these have cardiovascular complications.
All-NSAIDs use was inversely associated with prostate cancer: OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.61-0.98, especially in men using NSAIDs that preferentially inhibit COX-2 activity (OR 0.48, 95% CI 0.28-0.79).
Although it is low in stromal and tumor cells, COX-2 expression is induced by TNF-alpha in these cells, and this responsiveness may play an important role in prostate cancer progression.
Among the six polymorphic sites examined, only the Cox-2 promoter G-765C (rs14133) genotypes were distributed differently between the prostate cancer and control groups.
Genetic variants in the interleukin-6 (IL6) and prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase-2 (PTGS2, encoding for the COX-2 enzyme) genes, in particular, have been related to several cancer types, including breast and prostate cancers.
In conclusion, NFKB1 -94 ins/del and COX-2 (-1195G>A) polymorphisms may be, respectively, associated with decreased and increased prostate cancer risk in the Chinese population.
Inflammation plays a central role in prostate cancer (PCa) development through significant crosstalk between the COX-2-ErbB family receptor network and androgen receptor (AR)-EGFR signaling pathways.
Moreover, results showed that COX-2 overexpression or a COX-2 product Prostaglandin E<sub>2</sub> (PGE<sub>2</sub>) caused an increase in matriptase activation and PCa cell invasion, whereas COX-2 silencing antagonized matriptase activation and cell invasion.
Overall, these results provide strong evidence for the role of COX-2 and Glut-1 proteins for the progression of prostate cancer and highlighting the potential of celecoxib and genistein as a useful and combinatorial pharmacological agent for chemotherapeutic purposes in prostate cancer.