In this study, we examined two single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) sites of COX-2 gene in gastric cancer patients and explored the effect of the SNPs on the morbidity of gastric cancer.
Our results suggested that the COX-2 promoter polymorphisms were associated with increased risk of GC, especially interacting with H. pylori infection.
Five different classes of methylation behaviors were found: (a). genes methylated in GC only (GSTP1 and RASSF1A), (b). genes showing low methylation frequency (<12%) in CG, IM, and gastric adenoma (GA) but significantly higher methylation frequency in GC (COX-2, hMLH1, p16), (c). a gene with low and similar methylation frequency (8.8-21.3%) in four-step lesions (MGMT), (d). genes with high and similar methylation frequency (53-85%) in four-step lesions (APC and E-cadherin), and (e). genes showing an increasing tendency with or without fluctuation of the methylation frequency along the progression (DAP-kinase, p14, THBS1, and TIMP-3).
The -765C, -1195A, -1290G, *2430T alleles and *429TT genotype of COX-2 polymorphisms were determined a significant association with susceptibility to GC.
Previously we have found that early-onset gastric cancer has a unique COX-2 low-expressing phenotype that differs significantly from that of the frequent overexpression seen in conventional gastric cancers.
These findings suggest that induction of 15-LOX-1-mediated down-regulation of a PPAR-gamma and COX-2 pathway by honokiol may be a promising therapeutic strategy for gastric cancer.
COX-2 may play an important role in the development of gastric cancer, and the over-expression of COX-2 protein may be a high risk factor for liver metastasis.
Finally, we demonstrated that combinatorial inhibition of COX-2 and DNMT using Celecoxib and Decitabine synergistically inhibited GC growth <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i>.
In 180 cases of GC, the clinicopathologic features were correlated with the results obtained after paired immunohistochemical stains (tumor/normal mucosa) with 15 antibodies: E-cadherin, HER-2, VEGF, CD31, CD105, COX-2, maspin, bax, bcl-2, p53, Ki67, MLH-1, MSH-2, Mena protein, and vimentin.
In addition, our findings also suggest that reduction of COX-2 using nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs in gastric cancer chemoprevention may only be relevant for older patients.
Cyclo-oxygenase (COX) profile predicts prognosis of gastric cancer; COX-2 positive tumors are more often aggressive, and COX-2 suppression is protective against gastric cancer.
These biological factors are often derived from the genetic process, which is thought to represent a crucial step to gastric cancer (DNA copy number changes, microsatellite instability, thymidilate synthase, E-cadherin, beta-catenin, mucin antigen, p53, c-erb B-2, COX-2, matrix metalloproteinases, VEGFR and EGFR).